Who is Drew Hanlen? Meet the basketball coach who works with Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and other NBA stars

Even professional athletes need a little extra help from time to time.

Although the sport is child’s play, its consequences are very real, especially for those involved in its inner workings. Gold is not always eternal. Both for players and managers and everyone in between.

It is for this reason that players must be perfected. And what better way to expand your toolbox than to hire a trainer?

Basketball coaches have become celebrities in their own right since the advent of social media. The reason why? They represent both sides of the sports economy. On the one hand, they can attest to the physical grandeur of these towering magnolias that soar through the hardwood. On the other hand, they are able to offer criticism from the ivory tower of the viewer.

There are basketball coaches. And there is a hyper-elite class among them, figures who have transformed some of the sport’s best talents into superstars.

Drew Hanlen is one such sculptor. His work with Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum and more continues to pay off, especially when the lights are at their highest.

Here’s what you need to know about Hanlen, the maker to the stars.

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Who is Drew Hanlen?

Hanlen is a personal basketball trainer. He specializes in helping players develop game speed movements, a simple but often forgotten element of coaching success.

Hanlen has been coaching professional caliber players for over a decade. He has served a host of basketball’s greatest talents, not only Embiid, Tatum and the two Tires (Maxey and Haliburton), but also Bradley Beal, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Clarkson.

Hanlen got into “the industry” (if you can call it that) when a parent noticed his workout routine at a local practice facility in St. Louis. He has gone from strength to strength in the years since, honing his craft while enrolled at Belmont, the Nashville-based school that has flirted with Division I excellence over the past few decades .

With the Bears, Hanlen developed a reputation as an elite 3-point shooter. He made 48.2 percent of his 3-point attempts as a senior, giving up 10.8 points per game in his final season in Nashville. Fueled by his impressive production, the Bears clinched back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

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Hanlen was solid, if unspectacular, during his college years. But his name echoed on basketball courts across the country. The reason why? His training prowess. At this point, he had already started giving Beal advice on how to improve as a player. He quickly offered his services to Tatum, another St. Louis product seeking basketball greatness.

“I started working with Jayson when he was 13,” Hanlen told Local Hoops in 2021. “He and I had been preparing for the NBA since day one. Our long-term plan was to start with the fundamentals , then adding a bag of tricks as he went along, the final step was changing his shooting mechanics so he could extend his range and become a 3-point shooter.

Hanlen helped Tatum do just that. He offered similar help to Embiid — whom he began giving advice to before his professional career — and LaVine. The results were predictable for Hanlen: all three became All-Stars.

“I’ve accepted my role in being in the background and giving them that little extra help to make sure they have a competitive edge every time they step on the field against an opponent,” he said. Hanlen said in a 2015 TSN article. “My ultimate goal is to help as many players (as possible) achieve the level of success they dream of and take them beyond what they think they’re capable of. C That’s sort of the mission statement and my personal belief.

“I’ve been able to help a lot of players and business is doing very well.”