VERMILLION — Trey Hansen is leaving his mark on the Vermillion High School boys basketball record books. But he’s got bigger goals. 

On Jan. 20, Hansen became the all-time leading scorer in Vermillion High School boys basketball history, surpassing Jordan Boots’ mark of 1,283 career points. Hansen now has 1,296 — and counting — career points. He’s also moving up on the program’s career lists for assists, steals and rebounds.

But Hansen’s goals are centered around team accomplishments, notably the Class A boys basketball state tournament.

“It’s obviously a great thing,” Hansen said. “But I feel like our main focus is to make a state tournament and individual goals are cool and all. But I think the main goal for us is to make state.”

A second-team all-stater in 2025, Hansen is well on his way toward another all-state campaign in 2026. Hansen is averaging 24.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.9 steals per game. He’s knocked down 20 3-pointers, while shooting 35% from deep.

“It’s just his overall floor game that he probably doesn’t get enough credit for a lot of times,” Vermillion coach Jay Drake said. “But when you start talking assists, rebounds, steals and points, he’s kind of doing everything.”

Hansen has been a key Tanager since his freshman season. He was inserted into the starting lineup late in the season, gaining immediate trust from his teammates and the coaching staff.  

“He’s really skilled obviously and we saw it at a young age,” Drake said. “He just kind of has what I would call the IT factor, especially from the point guard position.”

Looking back on it, Hansen said playing valuable minutes as a freshman sped up his development and is currently benefitting him on the court. 

“It got thrown at me quick, but I feel like in the end it helped because instead of easing into it,” Hansen said. “You just got thrown in and coach Drake just expects everything from you right away. I got to play basketball against great competition right away, and it’s definitely helped me through these four years now of just getting better at basketball.”

Vermillion's Trey Hansen puts up a shot against Clark/Willow Lake on Jan. 3 at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

Hansen also played three seasons of varsity basketball alongside his older brother, Carter. Now a men’s basketball player at Morningside College, Carter and Trey spent countless hours in the gym together, regularly putting up shots and honing their skills.

“It’s great because when you get to play with him it’s almost like our minds are in the same spot,” Trey said. “We always have that connection. We always know where the other one is going to be. So it’s always nice to have that comfort.”

Trey also credits his brother for tough battles on the court growing up, and pushing him to develop his offensive arsenal.  

“You have to find a different way to score because he’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s faster,” Hansen said. “So I think it definitely helped with my ballhandling skills and just craftyness around the hoop.”

At 6-foot-4, Hansen also possesses key positional size at the point guard spot. It’s allowed him to post up smaller defenders, and blow by bigger guards on the perimeter. 

“He’s very tough for our opponents to guard because anytime you have a 6-4, 6-5 point guard he’s really good at getting downhill and getting in the paint,” Drake said. “He can pass over opponents and find teammates. It’s a huge benefit for him, but also for our basketball team.”

While Hansen fills the stat sheet on game nights, he said his favorite part is attacking downhill and making the right read for himself or teammates. The Tanagers also feature double-digit scorer Luke Jensen (16.4 ppg), along with starters Trenton Thomas (6.7 ppg), Gabe Larsen (6.1 ppg), and Spencer Blanchette (5.7 ppg). 

“It’s just super fun when everyone on the team is scoring and shooting,” Hansen said. “I feel like we can get in rhythm really quick and put up a lot of points.”

Hansen, the son of former University of South Dakota athletes Scott Hansen and Angela (Bjorkman) Hansen, plans to play college basketball. He’s undecided on his college destination, but Morningside College appears to be the frontrunner. 

That’s where he would once again play alongside his brother. 

“It would be awesome to reunite with him again,” Hansen said.