Holy Cross High School, the city of Waterbury, the University of Connecticut, and many, many more lost a great human being on Sunday.
Former legendary basketball player Tony Hanson died of a heart attack at the age of 63 in Windham. Comments poured in on Facebook and talked about the gentlemanly nature of Hanson. A great competitor on the court, he was also a great man off of it, which makes his death even harder to process.
Steve Butler, chairman of the Tees Valley Mohawks basketball club in the United Kingdom that Hanson coached for years, put together an emotional post on Facebook.
“Sadly I’ve lost a person so close to me it breaks my heart to think he has gone,” Butler wrote. “To be coached by Tony Hanson was amazing, he helped me become the guy I am today, his influence on my life is nothing short of incredible, he is a true gentleman, my hero, my role model, RIP Tony. The world has lost a true gent.”
Hanson was so well revered off of the court that he received a Master of the British Empire honor in 2006. The honor came because of Hanson’s work with young people through the game of basketball. An MBE is one of the highest honors a British citizen can receive. Hanson worked with teenagers who had special needs. In 2009, Hanson was chosen for the Red O’Neill Award, which goes to a former UConn student-athlete who has gone on to have a successful professional career. Hanson did so as a player in Europe, then as a coach, and through his work with teenagers who had special needs.
On the court, Hanson was an unbelievable player. He was the New England Player of the Year at both Holy Cross High School and UConn. Hanson was with the Crusaders in their early NVL years and helped them to a league title. He began playing for the Huskies in 1973 and was an All-New England selection in three of his four seasons. Hanson helped UConn win the ECAC New England championship and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 1976. He was named to the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team. Hanson was the Yankee Conference Rookie of the Year and earned two First Team All-Yankee Conference selections. Hanson’s 1,990 points are still third all-time in program history. Some stats that really stuck out for me came from a Feb. 19, 1977, game at Vermont. Hanson scored 42 points and did so on 18-of-21 shooting. Remember, there was no three-point line in 1977. That’s a historically great game. Many of Hanson’s statistics still stand in the program record book.
Though drafted in the third round by the New Orleans Jazz, Hanson never played in the NBA. Instead, he had a successful career in Europe, playing in Italy, France, England and Ireland. After playing, Hanson coached for 20 years at the highest level of English pro basketball. At one point, his teams won five consecutive National Trophy Championships, and that record still stands.
Hanson, a member of the Huskies of Honor, UConn Men’s Basketball All-Century Team and New England Basketball Hall of Fame, leaves behind his wife Sandy and children Chris, Nicki, Greg, David and Alex.
