Hanshew looks to keep Sabers girls' basketball at high point

Jul. 1—CHAMPAIGN — Kenny Hanshew slowly but steadily has been working his way east across The News-Gazette's coverage area.

After a lengthy stint in Le Roy that included Hanshew spending six seasons as a Panthers girls' basketball assistant under Danielle Cooley, he moved on to his first head-coaching position with the Blue Ridge's girls' basketball program in Farmer City.

Following his third season overseeing the Knights, Hanshew noticed a new opportunity available. Once again, it would shift him to the east.

"We were building (Blue Ridge's program) up and starting to get good buy-in. But I felt I got to the point I accomplished what I wanted to do there — make the program stable and sustainable," Hanshew said. "I wanted the opportunity to go to a different school and get basketball from a different perspective."

That's how Hanshew came to throw his name into the ring for the St. Thomas More girls' basketball coach position.

And he was selected as the Sabers' new leader in late May, receiving the first crack at helping STM maintain the success it saw during a 2022-23 season that ended with a Class 1A fourth-place state trophy.

It was the Sabers' third state trophy in the past decade, culminating with a 2A state title in 2014. Hanshew will become the program's sixth coach since that state championship team was coached by Chris Mennig.

"It's a storied program. ... The last couple years, that team's been awesome," Hanshew said. "To have the opportunity to go into that environment and play in a tough conference and have the buy-in of the kids you have at St. Thomas More is really exciting.

"I can't wait for late October, early November to get to work with them again."

Hanshew replaces Erin Quarnstrom, who stepped aside after last season because of a change to her full-time job. She coached the Sabers the last two seasons, guiding them to a 46-19 record that included two regional championships and last winter's run to the 1A state tournament.

STM graduated four senior starters from last year's team. Among the key returnees are seniors Ruari Quarnstrom, Emily Herges and Grace Dimoke, junior Ashley Wells and sophomore Audrey Gooding.

"We had a great summer. I got to know them a little bit," said Hanshew, who works outside the school. "The girls I've worked with this summer, the level of buy-in and willingness to learn and the fact they want to keep playing hard and get better is one of the big things I've seen."

Hanshew's three Blue Ridge teams posted an overall record of 9-46. He was the Knights' seventh coach dating back to 2004. Wayne Clevenger has been tabbed to replace Hanshew in Farmer City.

"Moving into a head-coaching role, because I was an assistant at Le Roy, it's having the experience (that's helped me grow)," Hanshew said. "There's a lot of work to be the head coach, behind the scenes. Having that (experience) and understanding what you need to do to be effective there and really streamline things and be efficient (is important)."

Hanshew said spectators of the Sabers' 2023-24 games should expect to see athletes doing plenty of running up and down the court.

"I like to get out in the half-court and trap the basketball, create turnovers. I think that's exciting basketball, demanding basketball," Hanshew said. "We like to create offense off the defense, and then we'll run some perimeter-oriented offenses that are dictated by ball movement.

"What I've found over the years is the simpler you can make it, the better. If we put the ball in the basket, contest every shot and rebound, we're going to be fine. We're going to be competitive every game."

Hanshew credited Ruari Quarnstrom, Herges and Dimoke for their steady leadership during the offseason workouts.

"I feel confident in those three leading us, even though we lost a ton (to graduation). They were there taking it all in and learning what they needed to do to step up," Hanshew said. "I told the girls that our goal isn't changing. It's to win basketball (games), and if there's a trophy on the line, we want to be playing in that game to win that trophy."