BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Hunter Hansen could accurately be described as a lifelong Weber State basketball fan, but it wasn’t until he was on another continent that the college destination he always envisioned started to become a reality.

The Fremont High shooting guard made it official this week by committing to WSU men’s basketball. The 6-foot-3 scorer is a 2024 high school graduate expected to join the team in 2026 after a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I love the coaching staff. They’re all great,” Hansen said. “They play fast, lots of space and you get down and guard on defense. It’s a really good fit for me and it being close, my family can come to all the games, my friends, to watch me play.”

Hansen led Fremont as a junior by averaging 18.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on shooting splits of 50/35/82. Hansen was a Standard-Examiner All-Area First Team selection and chosen by coaches as a 6A All-State First Team player.

He shot 41% from the 3-point line as a sophomore.

Fremont High

When it comes to Hansen’s recruitment, he says WSU head coach Eric Duft has been the most consistent communicator over the years. But about a year ago, Utah State put an official offer in front of Hansen and coach Ryan Odom’s offensive system was too good to pass up. Hansen committed quickly.

Hansen was in Kenya this spring when he learned Odom was leaving USU for Virginia Commonwealth. He was with his Mountain Stars summer team, who announced on social media Hansen’s decision to decommit from USU and reopen his recruitment.

Despite the distance between them, Duft got in touch that day to officially offer Hansen.

Hansen later got offers from UC Santa Barbara, Air Force and South Dakota. He visited the latter two, but there’s only one place he’s attended college basketball games since he was 6 or 7 years old.

“I was super excited Weber State offered me. I kind of knew that’s where I wanted to go, but I wanted to wait a little bit and see how it played out,” he said. “I pretty much have been to all of their home games. I’ve always been a Weber State fan … my whole family loves Weber State.”

BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Hansen’s father played football at BYU and his mother golfed at Weber State. Basketball has always been his favorite sport. Hansen has been at the Purple Palace more times than he can count.

“I’ve been dreaming of going to Weber State since I was a little kid,” he said.

Hansen’s a straightforward player according to Corey Melaney, his high school coach.

“I’ve never seen him trash talk or show up another team. I’ve never seen him want the spotlight on himself, necessarily,” Melaney said. “He does what he needs to do and he wants to win. He’s blessed with a great skill set and offensive game. He’s worked hard at his athleticism and strength.

“I’m glad the school’s the right fit for him and the coaching staff, he speaks very highly of them. They’re tremendous. It’ll be great to see him up there in purple.”

Hansen’s trip across the ocean “messed up” the timing when it came to unexpectedly needing to tend to his college recruitment. But Mountain Stars played one of Kenya’s junior national teams, participated in service projects, then went to Senegal for a tournament hosted by NBA Academy Africa in an experience Hansen said was great.

His summer also included tournaments in South Carolina and elsewhere across the United States, which drew attention from a handful of other programs and led to his recruiting visits to Air Force and South Dakota.

Though last weekend could hardly be described as a “trip” when compared to his summer — Fremont High is a half-hour’s drive or less to the Dee Events Center, for example — Hansen still visited Weber State to make things official. He got all the tours and meals, got to pick the brains of Dillon Jones and Steven Verplancken Jr., and watched the team work out.

“They were super helpful. Those are two big-time players who are going to play professionally, so it was nice to talk to them about their process … and their work ethic,” Hansen said. “And just watching their offense, I think it fits my game perfectly. I was super excited to see that.”

Hansen says the makeup of this year’s team at Fremont will be pretty different. He steps into a senior role after more than a handful of last year’s players graduated. He expects the Silverwolves to be quick, spread the floor and be competitive in Region 1.

“We’re going to be a good team. Easton Duft, coach Duft’s son, is a good point guard. He’s super fun to play with, I’m excited to play with him,” Hansen said. “We’re smaller, but I think we’re more athletic and can play a lot faster, space it out and we’ll be good.”

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