St. Paul Academy went to the state tournament when Kent Hanson and Dalante Peyton were sophomores. Last year they lost a few more games than they wanted but they still collected 19 victories.
In 2015-16 SPA is looking at championships and championships alone.
“I'm feeling optimistic about next year,” said Hanson. “Our 2016 class is the strongest class that St Paul Academy has had in a while. We definitely miss Coach (Kevin) McKenzie but we have a lot of experience in our senior class.
“Our goal is to win the conference and state championship and I think we can do that if we have a strong fall.”
Hanson is coming off a spring and summer that built his reputation as a skilled worker that will do whatever it takes for his team to win.
“Well, obviously (Grassroots basketball) focuses a lot on skill development, but I think that an underrated advantage of (Grassroots) is playing alongside and against better players,” Hanson said.
“In my case, it was a drastic change from playing Class AA basketball in the winter season. Practicing with and playing against better players pushed me to work harder. I think that working hard is a skill that I've improved a lot throughout my Grassroots career.
“Overall, I'm very thankful to have been able to play for Fury. I know that Trey and Ben both genuinely care about me and the feeling is mutual.”
Hanson has offers from the University of Mary and Concordia-St. Paul but the amount of programs he is looking at had to be simplified into four leagues, not just a list of schools.
“My college list is still pretty big right now. I'm looking at the NSIC, MIAC, NESCAC, and a couple of schools in the UAA,” Hanson said.
