Pacific Division Championships: 2002-03, ‘03-04, ‘05-06, ‘06-07, ‘07-08, ‘08-09, '09-10, '12-13
Canada West Championships: 2002-03, ‘06-07, ‘07-08, '10-11, '12-13
CIS medalists: 2008-09 (silver), '09-10 (silver), '10-11 (bronze)
Canada West Coach of the Year: 2001-02, ‘05-06, ‘08-09, '09-10, '10-11
CIS Coach of the Year: 2005-06, '09-10
Entering 2015-16 season
Overall record at UBC: 354-145 (.709)
Conference record at UBC: 235-80 (.746)
Kevin Hanson is UBC men's basketball's all-time coaching wins leader, with 354 entering his 16th campaign at the helm of the Thunderbirds. On Oct. 26, 2014, Hanson surpassed the great Dr. Peter Mullins with win No. 338 - a 77-69 triumph at Guelph.
He is just the third person in Canada West men's basketball history to win at least 200 conference games as a head coach. He is the third-winningest coach in Canada West history, 235 career regular season victories, behind Don Horwood (Alberta 313 wins) and Guy Vetrie (Saskatchewan/Victoria 245).
The 2015-16 campaign will be a big one as UBC hosts the 2016 CIS Men's Basketball Final 8 March 17-20 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Last year, the Thunderbirds got off to a 1-5 start in conference play, but recovered to finish 14-6, advancing to the Canada West playoff. UBC swept Northern B.C., before falling in the Canada West bronze medal game at the league's Final Four tournament.
His team went through an injury-riddled 2013-14 campaign in which UBC finished 11-11 during the regular season and lost in the Canada West Quarter-Finals. They lost in game three of a best-of-three series to the eventual Canada West Champions from Alberta.
2012-13 was a season of many milestones, as Hanson won his 200th career Canada West game as a head coach on December 1, 2012, the T-Birds captured their fifth league title under Hanson with a dramatic homecourt win over arch-rivals, Victoria. That victory earned the team a berth at the CIS Final 8 after a year's absence.
Since arriving at UBC in 2000, Hanson has turned the men's basketball program into a national power, guiding the T-Birds to consecutive appearances (2009 and 2010) in the CIS national championship game.
The 2010-11 season was yet another outstanding campaign for the T-Birds under Hanson’s direction. He led UBC to a 22-2 Canada West leading regular season record and the no. 2 ranking in 12 of the 14 CIS Top Ten polls. They were a perfect 4-0 in the conference playoffs, including a 107-100 victory over no. 3 Saskatchewan in the conference final on their home floor at War Memorial Gym. It’s the fourth Canada West conference title that the T-Birds have claimed with Hanson at the helm. UBC then went on to their third consecutive medal finish at the CIS Final 8, collecting a bronze medal in Halifax to with back-to-back second-place finishes in 2009 and 2010.
For his efforts, Hanson earned his third consecutive Canada West Coach of the Year Award. He has been named the CIS Coach of the Year twice (‘06, ‘10) and the Canada West Coach of the Year on four previous occasions (‘02, ‘06, ‘08, ‘09) since he taking over at UBC. Hanson was also well recognized before coming to UBC and is a four-time BCCAA Coach of the Year (‘92,’94,’99,’00), was twice presented with the CCAA Coaching Excellence Award (‘94 and ‘99), and was also named Basketball B.C. Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1994.
In 2009-10, he led UBC to a first-place finish in the conference with a 17-1 record and their fifth straight Pacific Division title. The T-Birds occupied the No. 1 ranking in the CIS for eight of the 14 polls that year. They earned their second straight CIS silver medal, losing 91-81 to Saskatchewan in the national final.
The 2008-09 campaign resulted in UBC’s first CIS championship game appearance in 22 years and a CIS silver medal. The T-Birds held a 31-4 record versus Canadian schools and were 2-1 versus NCAA competition. It was their first trip back to the title game since Hanson himself donned the Blue and Gold during the 1986-87 season.
In 2005-06 steered his team to a perfect 20-0 regular season record, the first time that had happened in school history since 1969-70.
The Regina native came to UBC in 2000 after nine years behind the bench at Langara College in Vancouver. Hanson guided the Falcons to five BCCAA provincial championships and two CCAA national championships in 1997-98 and 1998-99. The Falcons, 261-74 under his direction, represented British Columbia at the nationals for six consecutive years, and seven of his nine years as head coach.
On Nov. 15, 2014, Hanson reached 600 victories at the post secondary level, achieving the feat after a combined 24 years at the helm of Langara and UBC.
The two-time UBC graduate has also been involved with Basketball Canada for several years, leading Canada’s World University Games team to a bronze-medal finish at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Korea. He was also the head coach of the 2005 World University Games team in Turkey and was one of three final candidates for the senior men’s national team head coaching position in 2004. In the summer of 2006, he was a guest coach at the senior men’s national team camp and was head coach of the B.C. under-19 boys that won a gold medal at the 1997 Canada Summer Games. In 2011, he was once again head coach for Team Canada at the Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China.
His post-secondary coaching experience began with the assistant position at Vancouver Community College in 1987-88, at Simon Fraser University in 1988-89 and at UBC in 1990-91 when the Thunderbirds were Canada West Champions and consolation champions at the CIS championship.
As a player, Hanson was named Langara’s outstanding male athlete and a CCAA all-Canadian in 1984. After joining the T-Birds the following season, he was twice named the team’s most inspirational player (‘86,’87) and was a CIS national tournament all-star in 1987, the year the ‘Birds won silver. In his final game at War Memorial Gymnasium, Hanson captained the ‘Birds to one of the biggest victories in the team’s history when UBC defeated the seven-time defending national champion Victoria Vikes in two straight games in the best-of-three Canada West Championship final.
In 2009, Hanson was honoured with a Distinguished Alumni Award by Langara College for his outstanding achievements as both a player and coach for the Falcons. He was also part of Seaquam Secondary’s inaugural 2009 Wall of Fame class for achievements in the sport of basketball.
Hanson graduated from UBC’s Faculty of Human Kinetics in 1988 and earned his Master’s Degree in Human Kinetics from UBC in 1994. He and wife, Theresa, who is the senior director of athletics and recreation at Simon Fraser University, make their home in Vancouver with their daughter, Jessica.
