Hanlen Makes Commitment

Drew Hanlen had a busy week. The Webster Groves (Mo.) point guard made official visits to Belmont, North Carolina-Greensboro and East Tennessee State before deciding where he wanted to continue his basketball career.

On Saturday, Hanlen committed to Belmont over the Bruins’ Atlantic Sun Conference rival East Tennessee State. He also considered UNC-Greensboro, Yale and Arkansas-Little Rock.

“I never heard of Belmont before they started recruiting me,” Hanlen said. “My dad had heard of them because they beat Missouri a couple years ago.”

The 5-foot-11 point guard said he chose Belmont because he liked its Nashville campus, business school and he felt like he fit in with the players there. He also wanted the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament, which is something the Bruins have done the past two seasons — losing to UCLA and Georgetown in the first round in the two trips.

“I feel like with the two ‘08 commits they have coming in there, if we work hard we’ll have a chance to go the NCAA tournament,” Hanlen said. “I think it will be between ETSU and Belmont (to represent the Atlantic Sun Conference) every year.”

Belmont was 23-9 last season and was second in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings, but won the conference tournament for the second consecutive season for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Hanlen also figures to contribute as soon as he gets to campus, which is something he also did as a freshman in high school.

“They have a junior point guard this season, so I should be able to play my freshman year and back up their senior point guard and then have a chance to start my sophomore year through my senior year,” Hanlen said. “It’s similar to my situation with Webster Groves.”

He was a back-up point guard for the Statesmen as a freshman, but showed that he had poise under pressure and wouldn’t back down from anyone. He averaged 4.3 points and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman and made 23 of 60 3-point attempts (38.3 percent).

As a sophomore starter, Hanlen averaged 13.2 points per game, made 64 of 146 3-point attempts (43.8 percent) and was one of the top players in the Suburban South Conference.

As a junior, Hanlen was the top player in the conference, earning the Suburban South’s player of the year honor. He averaged 17.5 points, 3.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game and made 58 of 146 3-point attempts (39.7 percent) while playing mostly on the wing as a shooting guard. He will move back to the point this winter.

Drew Hanlen Profile