Philadelphia Native De'Andre Hunter Center Of Attention At Friends Central High School National Championship Watch Party
WYNNEWOOD, Pa. (CBS) – With Virginia tipping off against Texas Tech Monday night in the national championship, there's one player who has a lot of Philadelphians cheering for him. De'Andre Hunter graduated from Friends Central High School back in 2016.
Tonight, many will cheer on the Virginia guard on from afar.
"I remember we had a previous student, Amile Jefferson who played for Duke and won the national championship a few years ago, so we've been pretty lucky in that way," Tom McFarland, Hunter's 10th grade English teacher, said.
Philadelphia Native De'Andre Hunter Looks To Make Impact For Virginia In National Championship Game
McFarland said Hunter was a quiet student, but everyone at Friends Central High School knew his future was bright on the court.
"I remember saying, 'Do you know Amile? How do you compare to Amile?'" McFarland added. "He said, 'I want to be better than Amile.' I remember him saying that to me in ninth or 10th grade. That was fun. He definitely had the potential. You could always see that."
The game doesn't start until 9:30 p.m., but students and supporters of Hunter began funneling into the school's campus around 6:30 p.m.
Friends Central High School will be serving food and just hanging out, getting pumped up for Virginia to take on Texas Tech.