Entering 2022-23 season
Steve Hanson has begun his seventh year at the helm of the Simon Fraser Red Leafs men’s basketball program, after being named to the role in the summer of 2016.
He guided SFU to a successful return to the court for the 2021-22 season after the varsity athletics program opted out of the 2020-21 campaign because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His squad finished 12-13 overall, and 7-9 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. In its opening playoff contest, the team lost a thrilling but heartbreaking overtime matchup to eventual GNAC champions, Alaska Fairbanks.
Senior forward Julian Roche was named to the GNAC’s All-Conference Second Team.
Roche and fellow seniors Jordan Lyons and Josiah Mastandrea all signed contracts to play professional basketball at the end of the season.
Mastandrea joined the National Basketball League of Canada’s London Lightning, and helped the team win the league championship.
Roche signed with the Guelph Nighthawks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, and then moved on to Swiss Central Basketball of the Swiss Basketball League.
Lyons attended the Niagara River Lions (CEBL) training camp before signing with Vejen Basket in Denmark’s first division.
The 2019-20 campaign was the school's second-consecutive winning season in the NCAA-era (16-13 overall). It included a hot 9-2 start with wins over eventual GNAC champions Western Washington (77-74) and No. 21-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma in Hawaii (86-83). Under Hanson, SFU reached its highest West Region ranking at No. 5 and received its first honourable mention national ranking in program history (Dec. 31, 2019). After starting conference 2-0, injuries and tight losses piled up leading to seven defeats by an average of five points or less and a 9-11 conference record which was good enough for playoffs in 2018-19, but not in the 2019-20 campaign.
Two players reached the 1,000-point career mark as seniors: Michael Provenzano (on December 20 vs. Colorado School of Mines) and Othniel Spence (on January 20 vs. Western Oregon). Jas Singh was a Second Team team All-GNAC selection, led the team in scoring (16.1/game), minutes (32.1/game) and was second in rebounding (5.6/game). Shooting guard Othniel Spence, was an All-GNAC Honorable Mention and the team’s second-leading scorer (13.8/game), leader in 3pt makes (66 total) and tied for first in steals (1.4/game).
The 2018-19 men’s basketball campaign was record-breaking and the most successful in SFU’s NCAA history. Hanson was the first coach to lead SFU to a winning season with a 15-14 overall record, which included two wins over nationally-ranked opponents (No. 13 Saint Martin’s, 61-59 & No. 24 Northwest Nazarene, 78-77). The team also set a record for conference wins at nine with all five starters finished in double digits for scoring, including the GNAC leader in assists, Michael Provenzano with 10.8 pts & 4.9 ast/game.
After finishing no better than seventh place in the program’s first eight years in the conference, the team used a brilliant second-half run to earn its first trip to the GNAC Championship – another program first. As the No. 6 tournament seed, SFU went 7-3 in the final 10 games of the regular season. Simon Fraser led the conference in three-point shooting percentage at .384, was fifth in scoring and fifth in field-goal percentage at .458. One of the biggest improvements was in the rebounding department where SFU was second in the conference with a +/- of 3.0 rbs/game, was third in overall rebounding percentage at .735 and third in offensive rebounding at 11.1/game. SFU also was one of the top programs at sharing the ball and was third in assists in the GNAC at 15.4/game. The future is bright as the team will return 10 players in 2019-20, including all five starters, and GNAC All-Conference second-team honoureee, Julian Roche.
Hanson doubled the team's win total from four in 2016-17 to 10 wins in 2017-18. Hanson's team made huge strides on the defensive end going from 10th to 4th in scoring defense and only allowing 73.0 points/game. SFU was second in steals at 7.9/game and led the conference in defensive 3-pt FG% (0.321). SFU improved in every offensive category including FG% (0.450) and FT% (0.709) and 2nd in turnover over margin +1.75.
SFU produced GNAC scoring champion Kedar Salam under Hanson, who averaged 20.4 points/game and was selected to the GNAC All-Academic team in 2016-17 and 2017-18. Salam was named USBWA National Player of the Week after he scored 40 points and went 12-for-12 from the free throw line on January 4, 2018 vs. Central Washington. This was a historic win for SFU as it was their first victory over the Wildcats since the 1994-95 season.
Long-time coach of perennial power Terry Fox Secondary School, Hanson was named head coach of the program on May 26, 2016. He is the eighth head coach in the history of the men's basketball program at Simon Fraser. Hanson was the lead assistant on the SFU men’s basketball team during the 2015-16 season after leading the Terry Fox Ravens to the 2012 BC High School Boys Basketball 3A provincial championship and led the Ravens to a second place finish at the 2015 4A tournament.
Hanson is a native of Coquitlam with deep roots in the British Columbia basketball community. Terry Fox had a 93-27 win-loss record during Hanson’s four-year tenure as head coach. His Terry Fox teams were known for their toughness on the court, their team-first attitude and their engagement within the community.
Hanson was also an assistant to Canadian coaching legend Rich Chambers, who served with the National Team Program for at Terry Fox for six years.
Hanson received his USA Basketball Gold License in 2019. He was the Head Coach of the Canada Basketball Centre for Performance (CP) program in British Columbia where he worked with BC’s elite players. Previous CP head coaches include Jay Triano, Scott Clark, Rich Goulet and Rich Chambers. Hanson was also an AAU Coach with the 3D Basketball Academy where he led their boys’ academy for three years. He has the equivalent of Level 3 certification from the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP).
Hanson has ties to Simon Fraser University as well. He received his Bachelor of Education from Simon Fraser in 2013. Hanson is married to Mary-Anne and they hey have one son, Adryan, who played for SFU in 2009-10 before going on to a successful international modeling career.
An excellent communicator and skilled relationship-builder, Hanson also spent six years as a Speed & Strength Specialist with Gridiron Sports Development Inc., working with players in the NFL, CFL and NHL.
