Stuart Hanson '25 Recruiting Profile

My name is Stuart Hanson. Basketball is my passion. I am 18 years old and a 6’6” center. My love for the game started during the pandemic. Since I started playing late, I was behind most kids’ basketball skills. People around me told me to quit and give up because I was not good enough. However, that only encouraged me to push myself harder to catch up and surpass them. All my coaches will tell you one thing in common: I worked hard on my skills and made very dramatic progress. I am very coachable and accept all the help I can get to help me succeed. I never skip practices and often push myself through sickness so I do not fall behind my teammates. My sophomore year, I had an extreme growth spurt and suffered from a fractured bone in my knee and 2 broken bones in my dominant hand, which all happened in sequence after the other ones healed. While this was very difficult at first it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because while I couldn’t practice with my team, I worked with a personal coach on dribbling and finishing with my left hand, which helped me improve tremendously. It also helped me to learn to never give up in the face of adversity and to always find a way to improve myself. Even though I couldn’t play, I always came to games to show support to my teammates and cheer for my school. Since then, I've continued to practice hard with a focus on good technique. I'm a highly defensive player who can also make buckets.