HOLMDEL – It was a whirlwind couple of days for Saint John Vianney three-star recruit C. J. Hanson last month after he decommitted from Rutgers on October 17 after committing to Scarlet Knights back in June. But the All-Shore two-way lineman had a change of heart and reaffirmed his pledge to Rutgers four days later.
“During those four days it was a very unsettling feeling like I made the wrong decision,” said Hanson. “So I called Coach Ash (Rutgers head coach Chris Ash) and asked him if I could recommit and he said ‘yes we still want you just as bad as we did before’ and I did recommit. It’s like nothing changed. There’s still a great relationship there and I feel at home. I sort of second-guessed myself like I shouldn’t have and I’m happy to be back there.”
The 6-foot-5, 305 pound Hanson holds almost two dozen college offers per 247 Sports, including Syracuse, Virginia, Temple, UConn and several MAC schools. Entering the season he was listed as one of the top 50 players in New Jersey by NJ.com.
Hanson, an athletic and versatile athlete who’s also an All-Shore lacrosse goalie, didn’t even start playing football until his sophomore year in high school.
He was too big to play American Youth Football as a youngster and an injury kept him off the field his freshman year. But at that time he really wasn’t even considering football, as he was consumed with lacrosse and soccer.
As fate would have it though, Rutgers offensive line coach and recruiter A. J. Blazek was on a routine recruiting trip to Saint John Vianney when he coincidently stumbled upon Hanson in the weight room and encouraged him to take up football.
“Towards the end of my freshman year I was in the weight room working out for lacrosse and Coach Blazek came in for a routine recruitment check of Micah and Jamaal (current Rutgers offensive linemen Micah Clarke and Jamaal Beaty) and he stopped by the weight room. The weight-room coach then introduced me to him and right away he was like, ‘you should play football; you have the build for it and you could have a really bright future.’ He had watched me work out and liked my flexibility and motion and said I should really consider playing, which I did after talking it over with my parents.”
As a raw sophomore in 2016, he benefitted from having Clarke and Beaty as mentors to teach him technique and footwork to compliment his size and strength and untap his unlimited potential.
“They helped out a lot, definitely,” said Hanson. “I remember every day in practice going up against Micah trying to get myself better and he used to kick my butt all the time but I was able to get back up and keep playing through it. I think that really helped develop the player I am today.
“It’s definitely cool going to a team that you have these two friends to talk to that have the same background as you,” Hanson added. “I was never able to actually play next to them; I was just playing behind them so it’s going to be fun to finally play next to them.”
A year later as a junior, Hanson worked his way into a starting spot during preseason and proved his mettle. He helped the Lancers average 43.7 points and 411 yards of total offense per game and paved the way for SJV to rush for 3,354 yards as a team, averaging 8.3 yards per rush.
“Last year was a big year for me,” said Hanson. “We had some big shoes to fill with some spots open on the line and I was the next man up. Our offensive line coach sat down with me and said, ‘we’re going to need you big time to step it up this year,’ and it was a learning curve but I finally got it to click and just went out there playing football and having fun and the mere fact that we needed someone to play there and I was able to step up was a great feeling.”
His stellar play at right tackle earned him second-team All-Shore honors, and on the other side of the ball he recorded 42 tackles, including 24 solo tackles along with four sacks and three TFL.
“Towards the end of my junior year, Rutgers got back in touch with me and the recruiting process got going,” said Hanson. “It was a big year for me.”
Hanson’s recruitment really picked up last summer after a very solid showing at the Rutgers East Coast Elite Camp where he received tutelage from Blazek after receiving an offer from Rutgers in March which in turn led to his committing to Rutgers in June.
This year the Lancers have had an up-and-down season after being ranked No. 2 in preseason polls but Hanson hasn’t let that affect his play. After two consecutive wins, including a 9-0 win over No. 6 Middletown South that evened their record at 4-4, the Lancers appear to have righted the ship just in time for the playoffs.
“I’m really excited about the way we’re going,” said Hanson. “It was a rough start for us as a lot of people know. Losing those first to games (RBC and RFH) out of the gate really hurt us but it was a rebuild period trying to figure out what our team is. We had a whole new coaching staff, a lot of new transfers and a lot of people new to the program. We were still living in our old identity and we needed to find our new selves.
“We came back after our bye week knowing we needed to get this together and we beat Middletown South and Central and now we’re back to .500 and ready to go. The win against Middletown South was huge. It was a motivation booster and set a fire under our tails.”
UPDATE: Saint John Vianney’s season ended on a sour note, as the Lancer took it on the chin losing to Pope John, 33-12, in the first round of the NJSIAA Non-Public Group III Tournament.
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