Signing Report: Braedan Hanson (2016)

<h2>Signing Day Annoucement </h2>Southwest Minnesota State University head men's basketball coach <a href="http://www.smsumustangs.com/coaches.aspx?rc=632">Brad Bigler</a> announced Thursday the signing of two high school student-athletes to letters of intent to continue their academic and basketball careers at SMSU. Joining the program for the 2016-17 season include Nick Dufault from Waseca, Minn., and Braedan Hanson from Grand Forks, N.D. Hanson is the number one prospect from North Dakota and Dufault is a top 50 prospect from Minnesota. "With 16 returning players next year it was important that we bring in guys who understand the process," Bigler said. Hanson, a 6-foot-7 forward, is a senior at Red River High School. He is a four-year letterwinner and two-time team captain in basketball. He averaged 13.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game during his junior season and averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds during his sophomore campaign. He is also a multi-year letterwinner in track & field. "Braedan's recruiting process was a lot of fun as he is a cousin to the Koenen family (three Koenen brothers played at SMSU from 1997-2002) from Clara City, Minn.," Bigler said. "That Mustang connection played a part in the recruiting process. He is a guard/forward who in appearance will remind Mustang fans of Scott Koenen. He defines versatility in that he will be able to defend multiple positions early in his career. At his height he has great playmaking ability." Hanson also had a tremendous football career at Red River, finishing with a school record 104 receptions, for 1,241 yards and 25 touchdowns in three seasons. He set the school single-season receptions record during both his junior and senior seasons and is a two-time all-conference and all-state honoree. He had 49 catches for 540 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015. "Both of these guys are multi-sport athletes," Bigler said. "They shined on the football field this fall and those physicality characteristics will translate into college basketball. They will mix well with our current group of underclassman. Our roster is becoming physical, long and athletic. It will be fun to watch this group grow together." <h2>April 29th Update</h2>The ECI Prospects competed in Minnesota three times in April (Bloomington, St. Cloud, and Hopkins in three big Grassroots events) and at many of their games were numerous coaches from the NSIC and some from the division one level as well. Grand Forks Red River six-foot-7 forward Braedan Hanson picked up offers from Minnesota-Crookston and Minot State after those schools watched Hanson at those events and more are likely on the way. “I'm very excited and grateful for the scholarship offers,” Hanson told PHD. “The hard work is starting to pay off but I still have a lot to improve on.” Hanson and ECI played in the NY2LA event last weekend won their first game to get into the top division but then dropped two contests after that to quality competition. After three events ECI has won five of a dozen games but their given schedule has been against some of the elite teams in the upper Midwest. They are actually playing quite well. “The season is going awesome actually,” said Hanson. “I love my teammates because we play good team basketball and I love my coach!” Hanson has the offers from Minot State and Minnesota-Crookston and it likely won’t be long before the GFRR Rough Rider grabs another. “The University of Mary is actually coming for a home visit on Monday,” Hanson said. “Also I've been hearing from Wayne State. And a little bit from the University of North Dakota and the University of South Dakota.” <h2>March 26th Update</h2>The Grand Forks-Red River Roughriders went 17-10 this season led by the 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game of Braedan Hanson. “I felt the season went pretty well when I got healthy,” said Hanson. “My top moments were when we beat Wahpeton at home. Also beating Wahpeton in the semifinals of the EDC on a buzzer beater was a big moment. “Winning the EDC Championship and taking third at state was fun but just came a little short of what we wanted.” The Rough Riders did show their massive potential for the future with the late season run and Hanson was an essential piece. He shot 48 percent from the floor, made 41 percent of his foul shots, and the now listed 6-foot-7 frontcourt talent sunk 62 percent of his foul shots. Next up is the spring and summer season with the ECI Prospects. “I'm extremely excited to start my (Grassroots) season. My goals are to really work on ball handling and shooting. And yeah I'm going to play with ECI,” said Hanson. Coming out of last summer Hanson grabbed the attention of D1 and D2 programs. His college interest level remains at about the same area heading into April. “I'm not really sure to honest,” said Hanson who is recruiting him the hardest. “I've gotten interest from North Dakota, Northern Arizona, North Dakota State, and South Dakota. And then also from the University of Mary, Wayne State, and Minot State.” ECI will be at the Battle of the Lakes the second weekend of April. <h2>Feb 19th Update, 2015</h2>Grand Forks Red River is 4-3 so far and are coming off a 79-65 win over Devils Lake. Junior Braeden Hansen has done his job in support scoring on nearly 70 percent of his shot attempts giving a couple buckets a game in support. It's going well,” said Hansen of the first quarter of the season. “We just need to play better as a team. We are mainly a junior dominated team and people need more game experience. “The goal is to come together as a team at the end when it matters. We have a very tall team with lots of athleticism. We need to use that to our advantage.” Hansen is considering by many to be the top junior prospect in North Dakota and the Prep Hoops Network shares that opinion. At 6-foot-5 with skills and agility on the wing Braeden has big potential and is hearing from several schools. “I don't really know which one is showing the most but I have four division one schools looking at me,” said Hanson. “Those schools are North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and Northern Arizona, and then some division two schools. “And yeah I want to play at the next level I just have to keep working on my game.” Playing with ECI over the past summer Hanson caught the attention of those schools and if the game continues to impress more will likely get involved.