Austin Hansen joined the Milwaukee men's basketball program as an assistant coach in August of 2021.
Hansen joins the Panthers following three years as an assistant coach with Utah State, which included a 20-9 overall record and a trip to the NCAA Tournament a season ago. With the Aggies, Hansen worked with the guards, helping Sam Merrill to a pair of first-team All-Mountain West honors, back-to-back MW Tournament MVP accolades and a 2019 Mountain West Player of the Year award.
"After a thorough search process, I am proud to announce the addition of Austin Hansen as our new assistant coach,” head coach Pat Baldwin said. “Austin brings many intangible qualities that are important to our program. He has been a part of winning programs and been instrumental in developing players including former Milwaukee Bucks guard Sam Merrill, Summit League standout and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matt Mooney, and former Milwaukee Bucks point guard Nate Wolters. Austin will be valuable in the development of our perimeter players.”
His three-year run at Utah State saw the team go 74-24 overall, posting three straight 20-win seasons while claiming three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and two Mountain West Conference Tournament titles.
Prior to that, he was an assistant for four years at South Dakota, helping the Coyotes to unprecedented success at the Division I level with back-to-back 20-win seasons, a regular season Summit League Championship and the school’s first-ever appearance in the Summit League Tournament Championship game.
Overall, USD went 79-55 (.590) in those four seasons, highlighted by a 48-21 mark his final two years (23-7 in league play), advancing to a pair of postseason appearances in the NIT and CBI.
Hansen also spent five seasons at his alma mater, South Dakota State. There he helped the Jackrabbits to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013, along with two Summit League Tournament Championships and one regular season title. While there, he helped mentor Nate Wolters, a Third-Team AP All-American who scored over 2,000 career points and was the 38th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
He began his coaching career at Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn., helping the Mavericks post an overall mark of 116-37, including four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Hansen coached 12 players to All-North Central Conference honors, including two MVP awards and placed five on the academic All-NCC teams.
As a player at South Dakota State, Hansen was a four-year letterwinner and a two-time team captain, earning a pair of all-region and three All-NCC honors. Hansen led the Jackrabbits in scoring all four years and finished his playing career as the second-leading three-point shooter and third-leading scorer (1,815 points) in program history.
Hansen is originally from Valley Springs, S.D., and was named the South Dakota High School Mr. Basketball in 1998. He and his wife, Andrea, have three daughters: Hannah, Hadlee and Harper.
