Darrin Hancock - High School Career

High School Career

The young Alabama native attended Griffin High School where his considerably tall height of 6'6" and athletic talent helped land him the role of starting center on his school's varsity basketball squad during his freshman year. Hancock instantly emerged as the star of the team and was considered as one of the state's top freshman high school basketball players during the 1986–87 season. He managed to lead the 25–2 Griffin Bears in points and rebounds as well as helping his number two ranked school seize the state's Region 6-AAAA championship title, all the while before completing his freshman year.

The Griffin Bears continued to flourish with Hancock at the helm, as the now number one ranked basketball squad posted a 28–1 record and claimed their second Region 6-AAAA title during the 1987–88 season. Darrin Hancock finished the season averaging 17 points a game while earning the distinct honor of being the first sophomore to be named as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's state Player of the Year. He was not only considered one of the state's premier underclassmen, but was also rated as the number one sophomore basketball player in the nation by B.C. Scouting Service during his second year in high school.

Hancock is a terrific run-and-jump athlete, a tremendous leaper. He has tremendous quick moves around the basket. He just blows by people before they know what is going on...He reminds me of a young Dominique Wilkins.

“ ” Bob Gibbons, Recruiting analyst

Griffin High School began the 1988–89 season in a new basketball class, the 4-AAAA South region, but were unable to replicate their recent success. The team struggled to adjust to the new class and dropped to a sixth place ranking with a 19–5 record. However Hancock continued to achieve individual success, including being named to the 1988–89 Parade Magazine All-American First Team and finishing third in votes for the magazine's National Player of the Year award. He was additionally considered as one of the nation's top five high school players by several national surveys upon entering his senior year in school.

Darrin Hancock and the Bears finally managed to break into the 4-AAAA South region after their relative lapse during their previous season. The team obtained the number one ranking in their new class and finished with an impressive 26–4 record before losing to Southwest Macon High School in the state's Class 4-AAAA state quarterfinals. Hancock, who recently had also begun playing in the forward position, displayed what would be considered his best single-game high school performance that season when he scored 50 points and nailed the match's game-winning three-pointer in a double-overtime victory against Vanguard High School of Ocala, FL. The All-American averaged 30 points and nine rebounds a game at the close of the 1989–90 season. Darrin Hancock, considered to be one of the nation's top senior high school basketball players at the time, was a highly sought after prize by many college basketball programs. The All-American eventually signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in the spring of 1990 but was ultimately disqualified from accepting an NCAA Division I scholarship (under Proposition 48 guidelines) because of his grade point average. Unable to enroll at UNLV as a college freshman, Hancock instead opted to enroll at Garden City Community College in southwest Kansas, where he could officially become eligible to transfer to another university after completing his coursework.

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