National Player Of Year Zach Hankins Graduating To Major D1 Opportunity

Video Comments From Coach Bronkema & Zach Hankins 

Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University junior center Zach Hankins (Charlevoix), who led the Bulldogs to the school's first NCAA Division II National Championship this past season and will graduate from FSU this summer, has publicly announced he has committed with plans to play as a graduate transfer at NCAA Division I Xavier University for the 2018-19 season.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II National Player of the Year this past season, Hankins spent four seasons in the Bulldog program, helping FSU to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, back-to-back Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Regular Season Championships and four consecutive GLIAC Tournament titles in his career.

Hankins, who will graduate with his bachelor's degree in environmental biology, will be immediately eligible to play for the Musketeers next season as part of the NCAA's graduate transfer rule.

"We're thankful for the four outstanding years we had with Zach in our program," said FSU head coach and National Coach of the Year Andy Bronkema. "Ferris State University is a destination and a place people want to stay. It is also a place where we are trying to do what's best for each individual and in this case that means Zach grad transferring to one of the top D1 programs in the country.

"This has been on our radar since last fall and he did an outstanding job giving us everything he had this past year and was a huge reason for our championship success," he added. "Zach's been a great ambassador for our program and will be a Bulldog forever. As much as he's meant to us on the floor, his outstanding leadership and personality off the court will be even harder to replace."

This past season, Hankins was tabbed as the National Player of the Year in Division II basketball by being selected as the country's top performer by both the NABC and Division II Bulletin. Hankins, whose dominant post play was pivotal as Ferris State advanced to its first NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 30 seasons, led Division II in total blocks for the second straight season and was ranked among the national leaders in field goal percentage.

"First off, I want to thank Coach Bronkema, Ferris State University and the Bulldog Nation for the love and support I've received these past four years," Hankins said. "I have loved sharing all of this success with my teammates and the entire athletic community at FSU. After discussing options with my family, my coaching staff and my team, I have decided to graduate this summer and continue my education and playing career at Xavier."

In his junior campaign, Hankins set new school single-season records with 380 rebounds and a 71.1% field goal percentage while being a consensus All-America choice and claiming both the GLIAC and Midwest Region Player of the Year awards for the second consecutive campaign. He was one of the national finalists for the Bevo Francis National Small College Player of the Year honor and also scored his 1,000th career point during the historic season.

Hankins graduates as the school's all-time leader in blocked shots (319) and holds the school record for highest field goal percentage in a career (64.2%). He also ranks among the program's all-time best with 858 rebounds and finished his Bulldog career with 1,232 points. He became the first sophomore in GLIAC history to earn the league's coveted Player of the Year honor in 2016-17 when he paced the league with a conference record 130 total blocked shots. Initially, he redshirted in his first season at FSU in 2014-15 before playing as a reserve under all-region center Jared Stolicker in 2015-16 when FSU reached the D2 Sweet Sixteen.

A two-time All-American, Hankins also claimed All-GLIAC honors each of the past two seasons and was a two-time GLIAC All-Defensive Team honoree in addition to being a two-time Bevo Franics National Player of the Year finalist.

In his final season with the Bulldogs this year, Hankins helped FSU match the all-time NCAA Division II record for most wins in a year while finishing with a 38-1 mark. FSU won its final 26 games of the season and was a perfect 22-0 at home this campaign en route to the national championship.

Hankins plans to play his final collegiate campaign at Xavier under new head coach Travis Steele, who was appointed following 10 years as an assistant in the program to replace departing head coach Chris Mack after he moved on to Louisville. This past year, the Musketeers won XU's first Big East Regular Season Championship, a school-record final Associated Press #3 national ranking and earned the first number one seed for the NCAA Tournament in school history. Xavier, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, finished the 2017-18 season with a 29-6 overall record.

"This is a unique opportunity that doesn't happen often," Bronkema said. "We appreciate all he did to help our program grow over the past four years and look forward to following his success in the years to come."

Along with Hankins, the Bulldogs lose five seniors to graduation from this past season's squad, but will return nine letterwinners for the 2018-19 season while welcoming in a highly-talented recruiting class.