He already has the date memorized. It's Jan. 13, 2016.

That's when Justin Gunter, who The Spectator has learned will be announced Tuesday as the new head coach of the Waterloo Warriors men's basketball team, will face the squad that has been an integral part of his life for 12 winters.

After suiting up for the McMaster Marauders' basketball squad for five seasons and serving as an assistant and associate head coach with both Joe Raso and Amos Connolly for the past seven, it's safe to say Gunter has deep roots in Hamilton.

So leaving Mac, where Gunter has worked the past two years in the university finance department, while putting the likes of Redpath, Persutti and Black et all through their paces, is tough. Facing the team that defined him in mid January will be tougher. Gunter, 33, is just grateful that first contest against the Marauders will be played at Waterloo.

But as tough as it is to leave, Gunter is even more thrilled with the chance to turn around a young 6-14 Waterloo squad.

"It's been a long road, but it's been something I've been wanting to do since I got into coaching," the husband of Rebecca and father of Benjamin, 2, said Monday. "It's rewarding to get the opportunity, for sure."

After a stellar five-season playing career with Mac that saw the only bespectacled guard in the OUA help his team to three national tournament appearances, Gunter turned to a career in investments and finance. But the Ancaster resident is putting that career on hold to focus on the rebuilding of Warriors basketball.

"For me I look at it as a chance to do what I've always wanted to do. I feel comfortable and feel like I'm ready to take on the challenge."

But part of him will always stay at the Arthur Burridge gym, where he excelled with the likes of former Marauder stalwarts Ben Katz, Adam Steiner, John Obrovac, Adam Guiney, Graham Hewitt. He said the 2006 squad that won the Wilson Cup was the best team.

All through it Gunter eschewed contact lenses for spectacles. Often he played without even having them strapped to his head.

"I might be the only guy who did that. It was more just a comfort thing, really. I went through a lot of glasses as a kid because I broke so many. For me to play my best I had to be comfortable and the glasses were comfortable. No strap. Nothing. Just wore them and played."

He still wears the glasses on court during practice sessions.

His vision for the Warriors will be a simple one. When he meets his charges for the first time, likely next Monday, Gunter will ask the guys in black and gold to work hard and communicate. If they do that, they'll have no beef with their new bench boss, who succeeds Greg Francis. He left for a job with Basketball Canada.

Waterloo athletic and recreation director Rollie Webster would only confirm the school will be making an announcement on a new coach Tuesday.

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But Connolly said he is excited for Gunter.

"There will be a void to fill here because he is so good at what he does. At the same time it's not really bittersweet. I'm just so excited for him.

"He is the smartest person I think I've ever met. His ability to remember, process, strategize, he is just so incredibly intelligent as a person. I think the people who will be crushed are the people in the finance department at Mac," Connolly said.