The graduation of Gregory Echenique left a hole in the middle of the Bluejays’ lineup, and a cast of returning players and newcomers was given with the unenviable task of trying to replace him. Echenique averaged 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds as a senior, but numbers only tell half the story. He was an elite post defender, and his considerable size and strength, as well as his immense physicality, allowed him to neutralize almost every opposing center the Jays’ played against. Rarely, if ever, did they need to double-team the post, which allowed them a ton of flexibility to do other things defensively.
One of those players trying to fill the void is Will Artino, a 6’11” junior, who took over Echenique’s spot in the starting lineup. A superior offensive player to Echenique, he has better hands and has a bigger arsenal of moves away from the basket. However on defense, despite being two inches taller, his smaller frame (officially, he’s 30 pounds lighter, though unofficially, it’s probably closer to 50) doesn’t allow him to enforce his will on offensive post players as effectively as Echenique did, and it remains a question how he’ll fare against the giants who roam the paint in the Big East.
Going with a smaller lineup when Artino is taking a breather — as the Bluejays did Saturday night in Philadelphia, playing Ethan Wragge at the post — is one option available to Coach Greg McDermott and his staff. Going with sophomore Geoffrey Groselle (7’0″, 250 lbs.) or true freshman Zach Hanson (6’9″, 245 lbs.) is the other.
Coming into the season, it wasn’t a sure thing that Hanson would be part of that equation. Speculation on talk radio and message boards was that he would redshirt alongside the other two incoming freshmen, Toby Hegner and Darian Harris. No one doubted his talent or ability to contribute; the worry was where the team would find enough minutes to make playing this year worthwhile. Then Bluejay Madness rolled around, and following his dunk showcase in warmups and impressive performance in the scrimmage, the talk shifted from “Would Hanson redshirt?” to “How fast can they work him into the rotation?”.
Zach Hanson fades away for a jumper against Alcorn State. (Photo by Mike Spomer/WBR)
The exhibition game did nothing to change that opinion; after initially looking nervous, Hanson calmed down and looked good in eight minutes of action, scoring five points while playing with several of the starters. “I thought he was nervous to start,” Coach Greg McDermott noted on the 1620AM postgame show after the game. “I don’t think he was himself during his first run, but then I thought he settled in. It’s just so different for him. He’s going to be a work in progress, but he had an unbelievable catch in traffic on a pass Devin threw, and he had a couple of seals where he caught it and scored. There were some good signs.”
His strength, ability to get open in the paint, soft hands and ability to finish around the rim were all indications he was ready to contribute. But did the coaching staff agree with that assessment?
“The day before the Alcorn State game, Coach told me I was going to play right away,” Hanson told WBR in a phone interview this week. “I was really excited about it, because it was my goal throughout the summer and the preseason to play my freshman year. I was really working hard towards that, so I was pretty excited when (Coach) told me.”
Doug McDermott congratulates Zach Hanson on a bucket against Alcorn State. (Photo by Mike Spomer/WBR)
He played eleven minutes in the opener, scoring nine points on 3-4 shooting both from the floor and from the free-throw line. Of his three buckets, two came on really nice post moves — on one play, he sealed off the defender and was able to get position for a jump shot, and on another, he was able to put the ball on the floor and go in for a layup. His All-American teammate, Doug McDermott, had praise for him after the game, telling Bluejay Banter that “I think Zach will be good, and especially against more physical posts he’ll really be able to help us.”
Two nights later, Hanson scored just two points in 11 minutes against UMKC, but grabbed four rebounds and continued to play aggressively on both ends. “I was just trying to get in and play hard, play defense and then score if I had an opening,” Hanson told us. “I was really happy with how those games went, and I had a lot of fun playing.”
Practicing against players like McDermott and Artino has helped him to improve quickly, Hanson noted in our interview, and they’ve played a vital role in acclimating him to the college game. “Having them around has been great, because I get to learn stuff from those guys all the time. It’s hard not to get better when you’re going up against guys that are older and more experienced every day in practice.”
He told us some of the moves he put on Alcorn State and UMKC were things he did in high school, but not everything. Practicing against, and particularly getting shots off against McDermott, Artino and Groselle in those practices, has made him a better player already. “I’ve definitely added to my game since I’ve got here, in terms of being more physical and being ready for the speed of play,” Hanson commented. “I’ve gained a lot in my short time being here, and combined with just simply having to adjust to keep up with everybody else, I feel like I’ve already gotten a lot better.”
Still, college basketball is a different animal from high school hoops, in more ways than one. “The mental part of the game is tough,” Hanson told us, “because we have a lot more concepts and plays here than we did in high school. But the speed of everything is the hardest part to adjust to.”
If the first two weeks of the season are any indication, he’s already made that adjustment, and is well on his way to playing a vital role off the bench for the Jays this year.
WBR’s Paul Liberty contributed quotes to this article.