Hansen to join BV Athletic Hall of Fame

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor
Austin Hansen
Austin Hansen grew up a farm kid. And as all farm kids know, there’s always work to be done.
But Hansen’s dad, Wayne, gave his kids the opportunity to help with the chores – and chase their dreams, too.
Austin’s dream was basketball.
“We had a basketball court set up on the hill of our yard that was a dirt court with a wooden backboard and a chain link net on a wooden pole,” says Hansen, who guided the Lynx to the program’s first AA state title in 1998. “There were some challenges there, but at the end of the day, it made me a better ball handler.”
It also set him up for a lifetime of playing – and coaching – the game, which has led to his most recent accolade: Induction into the 2020 South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame. 
Hansen is one of 12 individuals and a team to be inducted March 28 at the 11th annual Hall of Fame Banquet to be held at the Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls.
“It’s definitely a surprise,” says South Dakota High School’s 1998 co-Mr. Basketball. “I don’t think it’s something you’re thinking about or looking for, but when I did get the call, it was a fun call. You have to work extremely hard to get yourself to a certain point to go out and perform, and I was fortunate to go out and play for some coaches that gave me some responsibility and allowed me to play my style of basketball. I also had some teammates that really sacrificed on the floor and gave up their individual accolades to allow me have the ball in my hands.”
It’s fair to say that basketball has been a way of life for Hansen, who is an assistant coach for the Utah State men’s basketball team. 
“Basketball is what I’ve always done, what I’ve always known and what I’ve always been comfortable with.
It’s been good to me and I feel like I’ve worked hard with the game and been rewarded by the game for my effort,” he said. “I’ve had some really good experiences with the game of basketball. I’ve been able to travel the world and meet so many people because of it, and when I got done playing at South Dakota State, I felt like the next step was to move into coaching and help guys grow and have the type of experiences I had because of it.”
Hansen’s no stranger to halls of fame. In 2011, he was inducted into Brandon Valley High’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and regards both inductions as “humbling.”
“I had a ton of fun growing up in the Brandon Valley School District and being a part of that community. Just the support meant so much,” he said. “It’s a football school and there’s a ton of tradition there and you know the pinnacle is getting to the Dome for a football state championship. But it was a goal and dream of mine to get basketball on the map since it was not as much of a tradition at the time, and I was fortunate enough to have a group of guys that had the same goals and aspirations and put the same work in to get there. And the support from community put it over the top.”
Throughout high school, Hansen worked at the local Dairy Queen and Pizza Ranch and still remembers how local fans would come in and talk to him about last night’s game or the big game coming up. 
“They were so supportive and it made such a difference in the motivation to keep working,” he said.
While Hansen was surely one of South Dakota’s best to play the game in the late 90s, the state had other top prospects in players like Mitchell’s Mike Miller who went on to NBA fame. Hansen also remembers Aberdeen Central, Spearfish, O’Gorman and Yankton presenting challenges, too.
“That’s what made it really fun,” he recalls. “We had a very competitive group of guys that loved playing on the big stage. To be able to practice during the week and get after each other and then be able to go out and perform before a packed gym in a crazy environment, that made the difference in some of those games.”
Hansen says his teammates made his success on the hardwood possible.
“I played with a group of guys that were very competitive and also put in the work. We weren’t the biggest or fastest team out there, but our chemistry and how hard we worked at the game helped us as a team and me as a player. We had a good run and in a humbling way, I guess I was the face of our program. It was fun to put Brandon Valley basketball on the map in South Dakota and have people respect what we did,” he said. “I loved playing in front of our fans. We were the smallest school in AA but we had the loudest and best fans in the state. To be able to play against the Mitchells and the Sioux Falls O’Gormans in a front of sell-out crowds made a difference for us, especially in those fourth quarters, and not only in our gym, but it extended it to the state tournament, too.”
Hansen helped guide the Lynx to the state tournament as a junior, too. The team finished third that year, which fueled him and his teammates to take aim at the title the following year, which they did. He ranks winning three straight games at state in Rapid City his senior year as one of his best memories as a Lynx. 
“My junior year, we had three unbelievable crowds in Sioux Falls, but my senior year in Rapid City on semifinal night against Mitchell in front of a crazy crowd, our student section was lined up baseline to baseline,” he remembers. “It was the same the next night against O’Gorman.”
He also throws some kudos to his high school coach, Brad Thorson.
“The one thing he did is he allowed us to get in and work on our games in the summer, which is a unique thing, and on the floor, he knew how to coach each one of us, how to reach each one of us and allowed us to play to our strengths. He gave us freedom to be basketball players and helped us reach our potential,” he said.
From Brandon Valley, Hansen went on to have an outstanding collegiate basketball career at South Dakota State, where he was a four year-letter winner. As a multiple All-Conference and Academic All-Conference performer, he led his teams to a conference title and four regional tournament appearances. He set the SDSU career 3-point record and finished as the school’s third all-time leading scorer. 
Hansen’s connection to the game allowed him to gain valuable coaching experience at various levels. His most recent assignment was being named assistant coach at Utah State in April 2018.
After Aggies head coach Craig Smith recruited the Valley Springs native to his staff, he said, “Austin brings a wealth of coaching experience to the table. He has a great feel for what it takes to win and is an excellent teacher of the game. Our guards were some of the best in the league at South Dakota because of Austin’s abilities. He brings a pit bull mentality to the game and will not be outworked.”
At Utah, Hansen is largely tasked with recruiting, game preparation and player development, and it’s a role he relishes.
“Being a guard, naturally working with perimeter players is what I do,” he said. “Everybody gets to a stage where that’s (head coach) the next step, but I do enjoy being in the role I have as an assistant. I get to be hands-on with the guys and get to be in the war room for strategy prep for the next game. Being a head coach, the basketball side of things is a whole different ballgame. PR and media relations take the forefront and basketball is second fiddle.”
Prior to Utah, Hansen coached at the University of South Dakota, helping the Coyote men to unprecedented success at the Division I level with back-to-back 20-win seasons, a regular season Summit League Championship and the school’s first ever appearance in the Summit League Tournament Championship game. 
He oversaw the perimeter players at USD, guiding his athletes to several all-league honors and one of the most efficient offenses in the Summit League. Prior to USD, he was an assistant coach at Northern Colorado for a season, where he helped the Bears to an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and an 18-14 overall mark. Hansen joined UNC following five years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, South Dakota State, where he helped the Jackrabbits to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013, along with two Summit League Tournament Championships and one regular season title. 
He began his coaching career at Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn., helping the Mavericks post an overall mark of 116-37, including four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Hansen coached 12 players to all-North Central Conference honors, including two MVP awards and placed five on the academic all-NCC teams.
As a player at SDSU, Hansen was a four-year letter winner and a two-time team captain, while earning a pair of all-region and three all-NCC honors. He led the Jackrabbits in scoring all four years and finished his playing career as the second-leading 3-point shooter and third-leading scorer in program history. During his junior year, he led the Jackrabbits to a North Central Conference regular season and postseason championship.
As a Lynx, he was a three-year letter winner and led BV to two straight state tournaments. He was a two-time All-Conference and first team All-State selection, along with being named South Dakota Player of the Year and co-Mr. Basketball after his senior season.
Hansen and his wife, Andrea, reside in River Heights, Utah, and are parents to three girls, Hannah, 7, Hadlee, 5, and Harper, 3.

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