You may not be familiar with a certain face on the ADM girls basketball bench. This person is Coach Jeff Hansen.

Hansen has been a part of the ADM basketball family for two seasons now. He has coached at younger levels and at the high school level for about 19 years, including being the varsity Head Coach for Woodward-Granger.

Having Hansen as a coach has done nothing but benefit the program. His commitment to the team helped with the transition to a new coaching staff. Head Coach Rick Dillinger said, “He has a basketball background, he has a basketball mind, and he’s willing to help kids. We are excited to have him.”

You may wonder why anyone would want to spend their time and gas just to work unpaid hours with an average girls basketball team. Coach Hansen said, “I’ve always loved coaching basketball and so whether I get paid or not doesn’t matter to me, it’s the fun of the game. Someone volunteered when I was younger and that meant a lot to me, so I’m giving back to the game. I’m hoping I’m teaching girls more than basketball; I hope they learn more about themselves by going through basketball.”

It did not take long for the girls to warm up to and get to know Coach Hansen. After having Hansen around for almost two full seasons, senior Allie Cook said, “I really like having Coach Hansen here, he’s really relatable, so he cares about us a lot and gives us really good feedback. I enjoy his enthusiasm and his wife’s cookies and that he calls me after games to tell me what I did good and what I did bad.”

See Coach Hansen at the next home girls basketball game, this Friday at 6 p.m. against the Boone Toreadors.