Bo Ryan wanted Clayton Hanson on his team. The high school senior from Reedsburg, Wis. was averaging 28.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, on his way to being selected to the AP’s all-state second team. Ryan’s team, however, was not the Wisconsin Badgers. It was the UW-Milwaukee Panthers. In 2001, Ryan was preparing for his third year at the Milwaukee helm, and Hanson was looking for the right place to play his college ball.
“We kept a really close watch on what he was doing,” said Wisconsin Director of Basketball Operations Saul Phillips, who was also on Ryan’s Milwaukee staff. “Coach Ryan recruited the heck out of him.”
Phillips, a former Reedsburg High School star in his own right, took some of the stress out of the recruitment process for Hanson.
“He was the guy in high school that we hung out with,” Hanson said. “With other coaches, it was more of a formal thing, and with him and I, it was just call and see what’s going on. It made the recruiting a lot more comfortable.”
Hanson and Phillips are longtime acquaintances, dating back to Hanson’s elementary school days.
“He used to always be in the gym, hanging out when I was a senior in high school,” Phillips said. “I even took him to Bucks games, him and his little buddies, every once in a while.”
The two Reedsburg standouts share quite a history. Hanson’s babysitter was none other than Phillips’ wife Nicole.
“When he was in fourth grade and she was in high school, he used to think that she was his girlfriend,” Phillips said.
After narrowing his potential destinations down to UW-Milwaukee, Tulane and Yale, Hanson was all set to stay close to his hometown of Reedsburg and suit up for the Panthers. Then Ryan, Phillips, and assistants Rob Jeter and Greg Gard made the move to Madison. Ultimately, Ryan still wanted the sharp-shooting guard and offered him a roster spot as a walk on. Had Ryan not been offered the job at Wisconsin, Hanson would be in Milwaukee, taking on the Horizon League, not the Big Ten.
“That was the whole reason I came here, that he took the job here,” Hanson said. “There was kind of a gray period when I didn’t know what was going on and then he asked me if I wanted to come walk on here. I was just happy for that opportunity and tried to take advantage of it.”
Hanson jumped at the chance to chase his dream at Wisconsin, though be it as an unheralded walk-on who would play an average of just 2.6 minutes per game as a freshman.
“I knew just to come in and keep working,” he said. “That’s the approach I’ve taken since I picked up a ball.”
Once largely unknown, the junior marksman is quickly making a name for himself this season. Thanks to a career-best 15.6 minutes per game, Hanson is contributing 4.1 points per game off the Badger bench. On Jan. 21, with Devin Harris struggling en route to one of his worst games at Wisconsin, it was Hanson who came off the bench to UW’s rescue. Knocking down five of his six three-point attempts, he finished the game with a career-high 17 points.
In league play, Hanson’s .474 three-point field goal percentage ranks seventh in the Big Ten. The conference is beginning to take note, paying close attention to the third-year walk on.
“Especially the first couple right after the Michigan game, coming in as a shooter,” Hanson said. “Usually there’s always a guy tagging me. Hopefully that helps open things up in the middle, and when I do get open looks, I just have to knock them down from here on out.”
While shooting has always been his strong suit, Hanson has made strides defensively over the past two seasons, which he attributes to summer workout sessions with strength and conditioning coach Scott Hettenbach.
“He’s the second-best player ever from Reedsburg,” Phillips said with a grin. “That’s all you need to know.”
All joking aside, no one could be happier about Hanson’s UW success story than his long-time friend and now coach.
“I’m very proud of what he’s done,” Phillips said. “I know what kind of character he has about as well as anybody in the world — I’ve been around him that long. To see a kid you’ve known for that long fulfill what I know for a fact was his dream for his whole life is pretty exciting.”
While Hanson has struggled with his shooting touch as of late, failing to connect on a single three pointer in Wisconsin’s past two games, his no-nonsense approach to the game will not change.
“Just keep playing my role and keep coming in and knock down more shots than I have in the last couple games,” Hanson said. “The confidence is still there and I’ll just keep plugging away at it.”
