RIP Tony Hanson

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Dove]

Rest in Peace, Tony!

Played before I was a Husky fan. Gone at 63. Damn.

 

[TRest]

He was a super nice guy to a bunch of dorky 8th graders, including me, who ran into him on campus back when he was the Man. RIP.

 

[cohenzone]

Sad. A UConn great.

 

[FlakeyFoont]

So sad. If you never saw him play, you missed true magic in a UConn uniform. He, along with teammates Joey Whelton and Jim Abromaitis, brought a special combination of grit and grace to each and every game. He was an utter joy to watch play.

RIP.

 

[RichZ]

Rest in Peace, Tony!

Played before I was a Husky fan. Gone at 63. Damn.

He was one of the reasons I became a Husky fan.

 

[salvagedsam]

Local legend and an all-time UConn great. I grew up around Waterbury and when we played Holy Cross, It was laughable how dominant he was. My mom’s best friend was friends with his Mom and we’d drive up to see him play. RIP, Tony!

 

[Matrim55]

Oh man, what a loss. RIP – gone too soon.

 

[HooperScooper]

He was one of the reasons I became a Husky fan.

Me too. My first memories of being a UConn fan were when he was at UConn. RIP Tony.

 

[mauconnfan]

Oh man a huge loss for the UConn family. As others said if you didn’t get to see him play you missed a truly special Husky. Sad news

RIP Tony

 

[David 76]

Oh no! He played while I was at UConn. A true Husky great. RIP

 

[Scrutiner]

Saw him at Manley Field House at Syracuse (maybe his freshman year?) and he lead UConn to a very unlikely win. The fans there were out of their minds that lowly UConn was beating them and a couple idiots threw ice on the court near the end.
My wife and I were probably the only UConn fans there. Sat a few rows behind the bench and got a lot of nasty looks and a few comments, especially at the end. We didn't get assaulted though.

 

[UConnLen]

I remember reading in the Norwich Bulletin the day he signed with UConn. I heard a story from a coach that Tony was interested in PC but they signed Billy Eason ( STM) so Tony picked UConn. Saw most of his games in field house and old HCC. Great great player and person.

 

[storrsroars]

Tony and Joey were my introduction to a lifetime of UConn hoops. RIP Tony, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and UConn royalty.

 

[TRUCONN76]

Tony was the ultimate mismatch for opponents. At 6’4” as a guard he was too big and strong for guards to control. His quickness, leaping ability and ability to score in so many ways made him unguardable by the bigs.

I talked to him and his old coach Dee Rowe at the Moorhead State game on Nov 8th. Dee told me that as good a player Tony was he was an even better person. Tony was at most games at Gampel, he will be missed.

 

[Northbound]

Those were my first UConn memories - those teams with him and Welton on them.

Sad to learn of his passing - best to those close to him.

 

[uchusky32]

RIP Tony you are a Uconn Legend.

 

[Chief00]

Wow, very sad. Will take Chief some time to process this. Way too soon. At 6-4 Tony wasn’t a great shot but was a great scorer and rebounder. Sometimes we would clown around in Guyer and Tony would grab the rim and do chin ups, seemingly effortlessly. That truly amazed me. He had a knack for scoring 15 feet and in. Tony could dribble, spin, pump and jump. He was tricky quick and also had really good strength beyond his looks. Most dudes he could beat in one of those ways and he would quickly identify which way he could beat you and then would keep going back to it. A tough match-up and I agree with Dee an even better person.

 

[Kathy]

What a great player - saw most of his games as a student - 1st intro to UConn basketball - been hooked since.

 

[Kitaman]

This is sad. Hanson was a legend here back in the day. If social media were around he would have been nationally recognized and appreciated. No matter though he was certainly appreciated around here.

RIP tony, but not fair.

 

[UConn76]

RIP. I looked at him as the face of UConn basketball during my graduate school days.

 

[Son of Robert]

Tony and Joey were my introduction to a lifetime of UConn hoops. RIP Tony, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and UConn royalty.

My father had me watching during this time, I was ten or so. Nice times growing up. 63 is too young, RIP Tony Hanson. I remember him playing loose and athletic, a good scorer.

 

[3rdbass]

Before my time but his legend is will carry on. Gone too soon! RIP Tony Hanson!

 

[Palatine]

Nice person. Great player. Met him as we were both at UConn at the same time and I did sports at WHUS. Had that huge mop of hair that almost had a life of its own. RIP.