Tony Hanson (October 20, 1955 – November 25, 2018) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in the third round of the

1977 NBA draft The 1977 NBA draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1977, before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

Collegiate playing career

After a standout high school career at Holy Cross High School, Hanson attended the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

playing under legendary coach

Dee Rowe Dee may refer to: People Surname * Dee, an alternate spelling of the Welsh surname Day * Dee, a romanization of several Chinese surnames, including: ** Those listed at Di (surname) ** Some Hokkien pronunciations of the surname Li () * Di R ...

. In his junior season, they won the ECAC New England Championship as he guided the team to a Sweet 16 appearance. He was also the

Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the an ...

Rookie of the Year in 1974. The next two seasons saw Hanson in the All-Yankee Conference First Team pick, both in 1975 and 1976. It was his senior year that gained him recognition, his double-double average of 26.0 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per contest leading him to be named New England Player of the Year and ECAC Player of the Year. His time playing for the Huskies has led him to third in career scoring among all Connecticut basketball players (1,990 points in total), and first in field goals with 784. His average of 26.0 points per game places him second. Hanson was named to the UConn Basketball All-Century Team in 2001 as well as its

Huskies of Honor Huskies of Honor is a recognition program sponsored by the University of Connecticut (UConn). Similar to a hall of fame, it honors the most significant figures in the history of the UConn Huskies—the university's athletic teams—espe ...

in 2007.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1973–74 , style="text-align:left;", Connecticut , 27 , , – , , – , , .458 , , – , , .506 , , 5.4 , , 2.0 , , – , , – , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1974–75 , style="text-align:left;", Connecticut , 28 , , – , , – , , .480 , , – , , .681 , , 6.5 , , 2.2 , , – , , – , , 16.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1975–76 , style="text-align:left;", Connecticut , 29 , , – , , – , , .494 , , – , , .711 , , 7.2 , , 3.5 , , – , , – , , 19.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1976–77 , style="text-align:left;", Connecticut , 27 , , – , , – , , .523 , , – , , .757 , , 10.5 , , 3.0 , , – , , – , , 26.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", , 111 , , – , , – , , .494 , , – , , .699 , , 7.3 , , 2.7 , , – , , – , , 17.9

1977 NBA draft

Following four successful years with Huskies, Hanson was picked by New Orleans Jazz in the third round of the

. He played preseason but due to Injury he continued his career in Europe.

European career

After not making the New Orleans Jazz first team, Hanson moved to Europe and had highly successful career in Italy, France, Northern Ireland and England. His endeavors in England led him to Tees Valley Mohawks, where he became coach after retirement winning countless trophies throughout the years with a star studded cast which featured UConn alumnus such as EJ Harrison a 1999 NCAA Championship winner.

Post-retirement

After retiring from basketball, Hanson set up Hoop Dreams Social Enterprise, utilizing his degree in Special Education to run an initiative to help young people with education problems, using basketball to aid them. He was also chairperson of Middlesbrough Black & Minority Ethnic Network, championing under represented ethnic groups in the UK. His charitable work led to him being awarded an MBE in 2007. Then culture secretary

Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from 199 ...

, who presented with Hanson the award, said of him, "Thanks to Mr Hanson's tireless efforts, thousands of young people in Tees Valley have benefited from the opportunities created by the Hoop Dreams Social Enterprise." He was chairman of Tees Valley Mohawks Basketball Club, who compete in the top tier of English basketball. He died of a suspected heart attack on November 25, 2018 in Windham CT.UConn men's basketball great Tony Hanson dead at 63
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Tony 1955 births 2018 deaths American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Ireland American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom American people of Jamaican descent American men's basketball players Basketball players from Connecticut New Orleans Jazz draft picks Sportspeople from Waterbury, Connecticut UConn Huskies men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball)