Josh Hancock knows his territory well
After an illustrious four-year playing career at NSU, the Kountze, Texas native begins his fourth season on the Demon staff and his second full year as an assistant coach.
He echoes the sentiments of Demon players and coaches past and present when he says Natchitoches and Northwestern is like a home away from home. He insists that the quality of people here is what makes it a great place to be, and he is glad to have the opportunity.
He hasn't strayed far from his second home since leading the Demons to their first NCAA tournament win in his final year of play. He returned to finish his education degree and work as a student assistant coach the following season. Before rejoining the Demon program, he helped coach the junior high and high school squads from St. Mary's School, a private Catholic high school in Natchitoches that competes on the Class 1A level.
As a player or coach, there has never been a question of his leadership abilities, and coaching seems to be second nature to Hancock.
"Josh is the best on-and-off-the-floor leader I've ever coached," says Demon assistant coach mark Slessinger. 'He has a bright future in his profession, and we're lucky to have someone of his character and ability on our staff."
He works with all aspects of on-the-floor coaching, including player skill development, scouting preparation, and advanced scout team coordinator. He is in the key role of Demon Basketball Camp director.
In 2000-01, his senior year, Demon basketball reached new heights in posting 19 wins and the first NCAA tournament win in school history, a final-minute 71-67 thriller over perennial power Winthrop. The team captain was right there, leading the team whether he was on the court or not. His 3-pointer with a minute to play gave the Demons their eventual winning margin.
His hard work didn't go unnoticed. In 2001, he was honored as the Male Student-Athlete of the Year for Demon Athletics. He was also an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and was chosen as their student athlete of the year the same year.
As a coach, he wants to follow in the footsteps of his former coaches.
"I have been surrounded by good coaches throughout my whole life, in high school and in college. Coaching gives me an opportunity to teach kids some of the valuable things my coaches taught me about basketball and life," says the ever-smiling Hancock.
Something that would make his smile even bigger would be to help coach a team to NCAA tournament. After going as a player, he says, the thought of going back as a coach definitely is on his list of goals.
This season will be especially exciting for him. He will have the good fortune and an unique chance to share a team experience wit his brothers, Keithan and Tramaine. Tramaine is a senior guard and Keithan is in his first year as a true freshman with the Demons. Both have demonstrated the same smart, tenacious style of play their big bother made his trademark.
Josh also had a special knack for making big plays. Although his career scoring average was 4.4 points per game, he provided some of the key plays in Demon history. Most memorable was the NCAA Midwest Regional win over Winthrop, when his last-minute 3-pointer from the corner helped put the game out of reach. He had two huge baskets down the stretch in the 2001 SLC Tournament championship game win over McNeese.
Hancock ranks sixth all-time at NSU in career assists with 307 and is eighth in career steals with 106, including a game-winner with 15 seconds left at Centenary in his senior year to cap a 7-point comeback in the last 54 seconds.
