April 20, 2009

STORRS, Conn. - Former University of Connecticut men's basketball standout Tony Hanson will receive the Red O'Neill Award on Tuesday night when The UConn Club holds its Annual Awards Dinner in Cromwell.

The Red O'Neill Award is annually presented by The UConn Club to a former Husky student-athlete who has gone on to have a successful professional career.

Hanson is a perfect choice for the award as he has utilized his love of the game of basketball to create a remarkable success story as a collegiate and professional basketball star, as a highly successful pro basketball coach, and as an inspirational educational and community leader.

Hanson came to the University of Connecticut in the fall of 1973 after a standout high school career at Holy Cross High School in Waterbury, Connecticut.

During his four collegiate seasons he helped guide the Huskies of head coach Dee Rowe to an overall record of 73-38. In Hanson's junior season UConn won the ECAC New England Championship and advanced to the 1976 NCAA Tournament "Sweet 16". UConn also earned invites to the 1974 and 1975 National Invitation Tournaments, advancing to a berth in the NIT quarterfinals in 1974.

Hanson was the Yankee Conference Rookie of the Year in 1974 and was a two-time All-Yankee Conference First Team pick in both 1975 and 1976. As a senior in 1976-77, Hanson was named New England Player of the Year, USBWA District I Player of the Year and ECAC Player of the Year as he averaged a "double-double" with 26.0 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per contest.

More than 30 years since graduating from UConn with a degree in Special Education, Hanson is still No. 3 in career scoring among UConn basketball stars with 1,990 points. He ranks No. 1 in career field goals with 784 and is No. 2 in single-season scoring average at 26.0/game in his senior season.

In 2001, Hanson was named to UConn Basketball's All-Century Team and in 2006 was part of the inaugural class of inductees to UConn's "Huskies of Honor" program. He is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. After his college days, Hanson was a third round pick of the New Orleans Jazz in the 1977 NBA Draft.

He elected to play his professional basketball in Europe and enjoyed an outstanding pro career in Italy, France, England and Ireland.

When his playing days were complete, Hanson began another basketball career as a professional coach in England with the Teesside Basketball Club. Spanning nearly a 20-year coaching career at the highest level of senior men's basketball in England, he has been honored repeatedly as one of England most successful coaches.

His teams have won several league, national tournaments and cup championships. The success was culminated with Hanson-led teams securing an unprecedented three consecutive "triple-doubles"---winning all three national championships. Equally impressive, he has directed five consecutive National Trophy Championships--a record that still stands today.

In addition to success as a professional coach, Hanson has used his unique interpersonal skills to engage, enable and unlock the potential of teenagers with special education needs. In 1997, he set up a non-profit organization called Reach for Success, now rebranded as Hoop Dreams, part of a UK Government youth initiative.

The program uses the principal of sport as a vehicle for positive social development, particularly for disadvantaged young people. Hanson's charitable endeavors within his community in the UK have touched the hearts and souls of numerous young people.

As a result of his community involvement, Hanson was placed on the Queens Honor List in 2006 to receive a MBE (Master of the British Empire), one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on regular citizens who reside in the United Kingdom.

Today, Hanson's work in the community continues as he serves as chairperson of Middlesbrough Black & Minority Ethnic Network, a government initiative based on inclusive agenda for under represented communities in the UK. Hanson has also taken a new position where he heads a school for pupils excluded or at risk of exclusion in Hartlepool Local Authority of Teesside.

Hanson and his wife Sandra have three boys--Gregg 21, David 18, and Alexander 14.