Hanson Starting to Make a Name for Himself
Tony Hanson is a name that many New England basketball fans know very well. In Connecticut especially, he’s a local legend from his playing days at the University of Connecticut. Even today, Hanson is still the school’s all time leader in field goals made, second on the single season scoring average list (26/game), and third on the all-time leading scorer list.
But when Hanson’s son, David Hanson, arrived in New England it wasn’t with nearly the same amount of hype.
In fact, not much was expected of him when he first came to Lee Academy last fall. Not only would he be playing his first season in the United States after having grown up in England (his father played professionally in Europe and ended up staying there as a coach in their professional league), but he also lacked ideal size as he was just a shade under 6’0” and only about 155 pounds.
When the season began he was little more than a seldom used role player who provided depth in the backcourt. But as time went by he gradually began to carve out a bigger role for himself, until he actually found himself in the starting line-up towards the year’s end.
Late in the season he put up some big numbers for Lee including game highs of 24 points at New Hampton and 19 vs. Winchendon. For the season, he averaged 10 points in almost 18 minutes per night.
“He came in as one of our lower players,” conceded Lee head coach Jim Graffam. “But his work ethic is incredible and he’s really blossoming. Weight training has been a huge help to him. He’s got NCA range on his jumper now and he’s strong enough to get into the lane and not get banged around.”
Hanson has continued to impress during this AAU season, suiting up for the Hartford Knights on occasion. A couple of weekends back he had one of the best individual games of the spring, dropping 41 points and 9 assists on the SECC All-Stars in the championship game of the silver bracket at the Hall of Fame Spring Classic.
Unfortunately for local fans they won’t have the opportunity to watch Hanson over the summer as he’ll return England to play with the National 20 and under team.
“It’s really a very prestigious honor because he’s only 18 years old,” Graffam noted.
But following his summer of international competition, Hanson plans on returning to Lee Academy as a post-graduate.
“He’ll be a starter for us next year and I would think he’ll be a low division I player.”
In other words…time to make room on that trophy shelf Dad, there’s another player in the family.
David Hanson