Work of Art; KPH honors family with tattoo and sport

It is impossible not to notice when Kruz Perrott-Hunt is out on the court in his uniform that he has a tattoo covering much of his left arm and shoulder. It’s an ongoing effort, you might say, or a work in progress.

Kind of like Perrott-Hunt himself, who has emerged as a steady scorer as a 6-3 sophomore for the Coyotes (13-8, 6-4), who will be facing South Dakota State on Saturday at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center

It will be an interesting matchup, hopefully for different reasons than the last time the two teams played. The Coyotes are healthier now, better rested and this is a home game. The Jackrabbits (20-4, 11-0) remain a steep challenge, however, with the best outside shooting in the Summit League and among the best in the nation.

“We have a deeper bench now – I think everyone is a lot more comfortable with how we’re playing,” said Perrott-Hunt, a native of Auckland, New Zealand who is averaging 15 points a game this year. “We’re better with the concepts we use. If we can execute in that way, I think we can play better. It’s an easy team to scout – they don’t run a lot of plays – but they’re a hard team to play.”

Perrott-Hunt is from a sporting family and one of two Coyotes – along with Australian Hunter Goodrick – who grew up on the other side of the equator. He shares a background in the sport of rugby with Goodrick. Perrott-Hunt’s father, Matt, played that sport at a high level at one time and also played football at the University of Hawaii. Sister Georgia played basketball at Tiffin University (Ohio) and is now a graduate assistant coach there.

In addition, Perrott-Hunt’s mother, Angela, was a basketball player and continues to coach in Auckland, a city of about 1.5 million people that is known for having two harbors – one that leads to the Pacific Ocean and another that leads to the Tasman Sea.

None of the unique geography of Auckland matters so much to South Dakotans, of course. The only real point to make is that the seafood is fresh and plentiful in Auckland and the land-locked Midwestern United States can’t compete in that area.

It’s about the only thing Perrott-Hunt has a beef with regarding his new home.

“I can’t say enough about Vermillion,” he said. “It’s more about the people than the place. It’s smaller than I’m used to and it’s colder but I’ve loved every second of my three years here. And the facilities are great.”

Perrott-Hunt’s basketball background is quite a bit different than that of his American teammates. As one of his country’s best young players he has been able to represent New Zealand all over the world.

It’s quite a list, highlighted by three visits to China.

“Basketball has taken me a lot of places,” he said. “I’m very grateful for that. The one thing that is different here in the United States from the other places I’ve visited is the social media presence.

Growing up playing basketball in New Zealand, I only had to deal with myself and the sport. I didn’t have the social media pressure that can be a part of playing over here.”

While the adjustments to Division I basketball have been challenging, Perrott-Hunt was good enough to play right away when he got here, though minutes were difficult with guys like Tyler Peterson, Triston Simpson and Stanley Umude in the starting lineup. He went on to start every game a year ago, averaging 7 points.

This year, with the Coyotes in need of perimeter scoring with A.J. Plitzuweit out for the season, Perrott-Hunt has stepped up in timely fashion. He has a 41% success rate on 3-pointers after leading the Summit League last year in 3-point percentage.

Recently, with Boogie Anderson taking over point-guard responsibilities much of the time, it’s led to better shooting opportunities for Perrott-Hunt.

“We put a lot on Kruz’s plate earlier in the year,” USD coach Todd Lee said. “We were asking him to play the point and also to do a lot of scoring for us. When Boogie emerged at that spot, I think it really helped Kruz and Mason Archambault. We were able to move them off the ball so they don’t have to worry as much about handling the basketball.”

Lee calls Perrott-Hunt a “mature young man who is very competitive” and one who brings with him all the best attributes of the Coyote coach’s experience with foreign players. Those qualities include loyalty to the school, loyalty to the team and a priority on academics.

“Overseas kids care about who they’re playing for – they don’t have people outside the program telling them what to do,” he said. “They’re great people to be around and they’re generally not the kind of kids who are looking to enter the transfer portal. Kruz is a great teammate.”

Last July while back in New Zealand, Perrott-Hunt began a project that will continue on as he advances in college. You can find photos of him playing basketball in his native land and there is no sign of the body ink that is now displayed prominently on his left side.

Even a novice in judging tattoos would be able to tell you the art he now wears is not something he drew up on a napkin. There was thought and purpose involved here.

“I wanted to get it done between my first and second years here but I realized I was too skinny at that point,” Perrott-Hunt said, laughing. “I needed to buff out a little bit. I needed to fill into my body shape.”

More importantly for Perrott-Hunt, the tattoo was and is about his Samoan heritage. His father’s parents grew up in Samoa and he wanted to show that he was proud of it. The tattoo itself is complex for several reasons but part of it is that he wanted to honor several elements of his past.

“I wanted to show my culture to everyone,” he said. “There are a lot of different meanings behind it. It’s a mix of different cultures. There are four designs there that represent my mom and dad and my two sisters. There are a lot of patterns in there that represent my family and being together.”