Photo courtesy of Mikaela Queen / FSC Athletics. Brett Hanson scoring his 2,000th career point for the Mocs against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Feb. 1.

Mikaela Queen

In August of 2016, Brett Hanson came to Florida Southern College from Manchester, New Hampshire as a 6’2” guard.

Hanson began playing basketball at the time he could walk. He said that the game has been a large part of his life from the beginning. He continued a family tradition as his father, Dave Hanson, played collegiate basketball at Plymouth State.

Approaching his collegiate career, Hanson had Division 2 (D2) schools in the south in the front of his mind. He felt that at a D2 school, he wouldn’t be just another number, but he would be able to have the opportunity to be a playmaker. 

Hanson was familiar with Florida Southern due to the fact that his older sister attended the school during his time of recruitment. He said that from the first moment of his visit, he could tell that this was a place he could be comfortable at. 

“Coach Donnely and Coach Mak showed me I was a priority from the beginning,” Hanson said. 

During his first year at FSC, Hanson was named the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Player of the Week once and was on the SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll. 

He saw the court in all 29 regular season games and made 20 starting appearances. Hanson scored in double figures 22 times, reaching a season-high of 29 in a game against Embry-Riddle. 

Hanson added more honors to his name during his second year as a Moc. He earned a spot on Second Team All-SSC, SSC Defensive Player of the Week and SSC Player of the Week. 

He started in 31 of 32 games and scored in double-digits 29 times with an average of 18 points per game. Hanson scored 575 points during his second season, which ranked him 58th in the nation and fifth in the SSC for total points scored in one season. 

In his third year, Hanson was named SSC offensive and defensive player of the week, NABC All-South Second Team, D2CCA All-South Second Tea, SSC Tournament MVP, All SSC Second Team, NABC Honors Court and SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He started in all 33 games, leading the Mocs in seven statistical categories. He averaged 17.9 points a game and shot 49.4 percent from the floor. Hanson ranked seventh in the nation and second in the SSC for total minutes played (1200:51). He also broke the Florida Southern men’s basketball record for total minutes played in one season. 

In his current season, Hanson has continued to break records as a senior. He now averages 21.9 points per game and has been named SSC Player of the Week three times. In addition, Hanson was marked in the record books as the third player in Mocassin basketball history to record 2,000 career points. Hanson said that it was a great milestone to hit considering all the sacrifice that lead up to it. 

“Things from my parents driving me all over the place for games, to spending hours in the gym during the summer all add up and it feels great to see some success from that,” Hanson said. 

After graduation, Hanson anticipates continuing his basketball career playing professionally at some level. 

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