Hanson, Victor A.
Basketball, Football
b. July 30, 1903, Watertown, NY
d. April 10, 1982
Named the best amateur athlete in New York state history in 1953, Hanson starred in four sports in high school, but dropped track and participated in only three, baseball, basketball and football, at Syracuse University. He captained all three teams as a senior.
Hanson was an All-American forward three times, in 1925, 1926 and 1927, and the Helms Athletic Foundation named him player of the year for 1927. Syracuse had a 48-7 record over his three seasons, and the 1925-26 was Helms national champion, winning 19 games while losing only 1.
An end, the 5-10, 160-pound Hanson was also a football All-American in 1926. In 1952, Grantland Rice named him to his all-time All-American football team and Helms placed him on the all-time All-American basketball team.
After graduating in 1927, Hanson joined the Cleveland Rosenblums, who won the American Basketball League championship, and he played baseball for a season in the New York Yankee system. He coached football at Syracuse from 1930 through 1936, winning 33 games, losing 21, and tying 5. He was later a high school teacher and coach.