With the NBA in the middle of its offseason and player movement at a standstill, much of the basketball world's attention has been on the Drew League. LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan made waves when they played together, and other NBA hoopers have also participated. Then there's Hansel Emmanuel.
The youngster is a high school star who dominates on the hardwood despite having one arm. Emmanuel's left arm was amputated when he was just 6 years old after a cinderblock wall collapsed on him and trapped him for several hours. That hasn't stopped him from developing into a basketball phenom, and he showed out at the Drew League this weekend:
Hansel Emmanuel will be continuing his basketball at Northwestern State after committing at the Drew League. Emmanuel also had offers from Memphis, Tennessee State and Bethune-Cookman. Playing for Overtime Elite was another consideration, but he decided to take his talents to Louisiana.
Emmanuel is a 6-foot-4 guard from Florida. 247Sports ranks him as the 22nd-best prospect in Florida for the 2022 class. Bleacher Report lists his stats from this past season as 25.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 3.4 blocks per game through Feb. 15.
Playing in the Drew League and committing to play college basketball had to be an especially cool moment for Hansel Emmanuel. He has a truly incredible story, and for him to overcome that kind of adversity to have success playing basketball is impressive. Good luck to him as he continues his basketball journey at the next level.