Gary Hannan (1976) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Gary Hannan

Induction:
1976

Gary Hannan was an outstanding scoring and rebounding forward for the Southern Miss basketball team in the 1960s. He played for Coach Lee Floyd during the 1963-64 through the 1966-67 seasons and played a large role in the success of the teams during the span and also was instrumental in a resurgence in the popularity of Southern Miss basketball.
   Hannan would turn out to be one of the best scorers that the school had ever seen, but as a rebounder he was second to none. At 6-4 and 215-pounds, the Canton, Ohio native, had a way of maneuvering under the basket and using his body to grab loose ball after loose ball and helping to turn it into points for Southern Miss.
   On the defense end Hannan emerged as an outstanding player as well and again he was able to use his body to keep opposing players from getting where they wanted to on the court and when they did get the ball, Hannan made it tough for them to get off a good shot.
   Hannan joined the Southern Miss program after four years in the United States Marines, where he also played four seasons of service ball for the Norfolk (Virginia) Naval Station.
   So when he arrived at Southern Miss he was already much bigger, stronger and experienced than most of the players he would play with and face.
   His first season saw him crack the starting lineup and make big contributions to a team that finished 16-8. Hannan was the team's fourth leading scorer with 13.8 points a game and far and away the leading rebounder on the club with 11.5 per contest, almost twice as many as any one else on the team.
   Hannan would get even better the following season. As a sophomore on the 1964-65 team that went 15-11, he was the third leading scorer with 15.8 points a game and once again led the squad in rebounds, averaging 12.7 a game.
   He was bothered by a knee injury during the 1965-66 season, but still played in all 25 games and led the team in scoring for the first time with 16.1 points a game. For the third straight year he would lead the team in rebounding, averaging 11.2 per game. That 1965-66 team struggled to a 12-13 mark.
   Hannan's final year would see Southern go 16-9 in 1966-67 and Hannan would finish second on the team in scoring averaging a career high 17.1 points and lead the team in rebounding for the fourth consecutive year with 12.1 a game.
   He would conclude his career with 1,569 points to rank 10th in the history of Southern Miss basketball and pull down 1,191 rebounds a mark that only two players have ever bettered (Wendell Ladner & Clarence Weatherspoon).
   Hannan was a player who had the ability to dominate a game and control it with his scoring and rebounding talents. Few players that have worn the Black & Gold have accomplished the things that Hannan did to earn his spot in the Hall of Fame.