Bill Hanzlik: Former Nugget on What NBA Teams Look For & Choosing Prep School for His Son

What NBA teams look for goes beyond talent. Former Denver Nugget Bill Hanzlik joins PREP Athletics to talk about player potential, work ethic, character, and why he chose a prep school post-grad year for his son.

Bill shares how defense helped him become a first-round NBA Draft pick, what young players need to understand about making it to the next level, and how NBA teams evaluate more than just scoring. He also explains how he researched prep schools, why New Hampton became the right fit for his son Rob, and what families should consider when looking at the prep school path.

We also talk about Nikola Jokic, what makes him special, Bill’s Denver Nuggets perspective, and Stomp’s basketball traction product after appearing on Shark Tank.

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Bill Hanzlik, Denver Nuggets, Prep School, and Stomp
03:07 - Bill’s NBA Career and Defensive Identity
05:50 - What NBA Teams Look For in Young Players
09:12 - Why Bill Sent His Son to Prep School
12:43 - What Makes Nikola Jokic Special
15:31 - Stomp, Shark Tank, and Basketball Traction
18:22 - Final Advice for Families

📌 Key Topics:
• What NBA teams look for in young basketball players
• Bill Hanzlik’s NBA and Denver Nuggets experience
• Why defense helped Bill become a first-round draft pick
• Work ethic, character, shooting, and being a good teammate
• Why Bill chose prep school for his son Rob
• New Hampton and the post-grad basketball path
• Nikola Jokic’s development and competitiveness
• Stomp basketball traction mats and Shark Tank

👤 About the Guest:
Bill Hanzlik is a former NBA player, former Denver Nuggets head coach, and longtime Nuggets broadcaster. He played college basketball at Notre Dame, was selected in the first round of the 1980 NBA Draft, and later sent his son Rob to New Hampton for a post-grad prep school year before Rob went on to play Division I basketball.

🎙️ About PREP Athletics:
At PREP Athletics, we help young athletes and their families understand the prep school path and how it can create better opportunities in the classroom, on the court, and in the college recruiting process. We talk about prep schools, post-grad years, reclassing, recruiting, academics, AAU, NCAA updates, and the decisions families need to understand before choosing a path.

Our goal is to help players find the right fit, not just any placement. We share honest, experience-based guidance for families trying to navigate prep school basketball, college recruiting, exposure, development, and the steps that can help student-athletes move closer to their goals.

#PREPAthletics #BillHanzlik #DenverNuggets #BasketballRecruiting #PrepSchoolBasketball #PostGradBasketball #NBADraft #NikolaJokic

🔗 Connect with Cory:
 
Website | https://www.prepathletics.com
Twitter | https://twitter.com/PREP_Athletics
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/prep.athletics/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/PrepAthletics
Email | coryheitz@gmail.com
Phone | 859-317-1166

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to this week's episode of the Prep Athletics Friends, and thank you so much for joining. We love having you here as part of the family and learning about prep school basketball, college recruiting, and some other fun things. Today we got a special mini episode, and it's mini because the guest is so busy out there. Um, it's Bill Hanslick. Now, Bill Hanslick grew up and played at Notre Dame, and then he was a number 10 pick in the NBA draft uh in 1980, and he holds the record, him or John Havlicek, of having the fewest points averaged in college, in college, but still being drafted in the first round. And then he talks about guarding some of the big men in the 80s. Um he played for the Nuggets, he was head coach of the Nuggets for a year, and now he works in broadcasting for the Nuggets here in Denver. And the fun thing I wanted to have him on was ask him about, once again, what's it take to make it to the NBA? Right? We're always looking for that secret sauce. I'm asking all the prep school coaches that have coached NBA players that same question. And then um a while ago, Bill sent his son Rob to a prep school after graduating um from a high school out here in Colorado, and that helped him go D1. And he talks about the process for choosing that. Mind you, he had some higher-level friends that helped him, which you'll hear about. But um, Bill's kind of Mr. Denver, kind of knows everybody out here. First time when I moved out here, I said, Who do I need to meet? And everyone said Bill Hanslick. And I met Bill and he's connected me to a lot of people. Um, and he talks about his company, Stomp, that he's been advising and investing in. And Stomp is an anti antimicrobial, um, kind of like a pad where you get grip by putting your feet on it. You might know about the sticky pad that some schools put next to the scores table that players rub their feet on before they go into a game. Well, those are messy, they're expensive, you got to throw them away. The Stomp pad has new technology where you rub your feet on it and then you've got grip, right? They were just on Shark Tank last week. That's where I saw Bill um at the premiere, and uh they got to deal with Mr. Wonderful, which is pretty neat. And uh the cool thing I like about Stomp is um they've got these little pads you can put on top of your shoes. So during a game, you can rub each toe on top of your foot versus licking your fingers, um, which is not very sanitary at all, which I did my entire career to try to get grip. So I wish these are around. And they've got a couple others, and they're selling now on all major sales platforms. So check that out too. So this is a short one, but we pack a lad in, and Bill is just so infectious with his energy, and that you'll see why he's called Mr. Denver. So thank you for joining us. If you like this podcast, share it, share it with a friend out there. Um, I know people love behind-the-scenes NBA stories. He talks about Jokic as well and kind of what got him to the top. But I appreciate you tuning in and enjoy this week's episode of the Prep Athletics Podcast. Take care. Welcome to the Prep Athletics Podcast. This is Corey Heights. Some battles. I'm not I'm not sure if they got us. If they did, maybe you will get better as a player during that year. So it was kind of exciting. Like, oh yeah, somebody wants me.

Bill’s NBA Career and Defensive Identity

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Bill, welcome to the podcast. Hey, Corey, it's always good to be with you, my friend. Yeah, and uh, you were drafted in the 1980 NBA draft, and uh help educate me and the listeners like what skill set did you have that made you a lottery pick?

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Well, uh it was defense. Um, I was the lowest or second lowest scoring first-round draft pick ever. It's I I'm going off of memory. Something tells me John Hablachek might have been in there too. We were, and the reason why he was a good scorer, but his team at Ohio State had like Jerry Lucas. I can't remember all the other. They had a bunch of guys. Sort of the same thing at Notre Dame. We we had a tremendous talented team. We had NBA players, John Paxson, um, Bill Lambeer, Kelly Trapuco, Orlando Woolerge. We had a lot of guys that could make buckets. So I earned my playing time at Notre Dame with defense, and I got drafted by Seattle a couple years prior. They had won the NBA title. But this was an era when magic had been drafted ahead of me. There were some George German, there were some other big guards that could you could could play. So they drafted me to be a defender against those guys.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Gotcha. And can you teach someone to be a good defender? Are you born with it?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Uh I think probably kind of a combo, I would say. I mean, you have an innate kind of competitiveness. I mean, to to stop somebody, and then you but you got to learn the tricks of the trade a little bit. And and how I played defense, um, I had an ability to guard big guys. Um not that they I didn't shut them down, but I I could also guard power forward centers. And Doug Moe, my coach, when I got traded to Denver and finished the last nine years, we would cross them. If you can't stop our center, we're gonna we're gonna run. And so if somebody, as soon as a ball changed hand, whether it was a made shot, miss, whatever, I just sprinted the court and try to create odd man situations and centers. If I'm guarding a center, like I guarded oh, Patrick Ewing, Akeem Elijahwan, even Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And as soon as, you know, that those guys didn't like to run like that. So, you know, if they were guarding me, I'm getting down the court and we we played to pass. We didn't have to set up a play. We would just pass move, cut move the ball, and we could score.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

I love it. Now, you're around NBA players today with your job with the nuggets. This is a million, a billion-dollar question

What NBA Teams Look For in Young Players

SPEAKER_00 5:50

right here, but what does it take to make it to the NBA nowadays? Like, is it nature? Is it nurture? Like, what's the secret sauce, Bill?

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Well, I mean, you know, the NBA clubs all draft on potential. I mean, that's you're you're you're it's it's almost a rarity that you get somebody that's gonna be at school for four years and then you're drafting them. It's guys that are one year in, two years in that are going, so you're drafted on potential. Well, what do you bring to the table? Um, athleticism, the ability to shoot the three ball is so big. Um, success with your team. Say, you know, draft guys that are winners. So um, yeah, just they they know everything about your background. How hard do you work? How are you as a teammate? All the things that coaches will talk about that are successful coaches, you do those things, you got a chance.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

But is that stuff some of that stuff you're born with, or is that stuff you can develop with the right upbringing?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Uh again, probably a combination. I mean, some of that you're born with. If you're a jerk and you know, your teammates know you're a jerk, you're not gonna have as much success, and the NBA scouts are gonna know about that. And it's a trait that you probably can't change too much. And so they're gonna move on to the next person. Conversely, if you're a uh, you know, you take somebody like a Cooper Flag. Yeah, he was the number one pick, but athleticism, ability to shoot so much potential. Like a lot of guys say, well, he, you know, he wasn't that good. But I say, you just wait. I'll never forget. I was coaching in Charlotte, and we were playing Minnesota, and it was the first time I had seen Kevin Garnett, and I think he came out of high school, and I'm like, whoa, this guy, he's got a long way to go. Then four or five months later, I see him, we play him again. We only played him twice, and I'm like, wow. So the upside of guys like that, that's what scouts really depend on. You know, how much can you grow and get better? I in the NBA, I think, I think my my observation's always been, hey, you you've got a window of maybe four, five, six years where if you work hard, you're gonna keep growing and growing, and then you'll kind of plateau, and and then it's a matter of how long you can keep that, how long you stay in the league.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Interesting. Who's the best player you ever played against?

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Michael Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Without a hesitation. You have to guard him.

unknown 8:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Oh, yeah, yeah. But but most of the time, we had another guard on our team that guarded him. Um I just both as a you know, as a player and a coach watching him, just incredible. And again, I'm a defensive guy. So I yeah, I know what he can do offensively, but as a coach, and you want it, it's like having five and a half players you're playing against. Because he guard his guy, and yeah, he he had that ability to just know situations and and impact uh uh defensively on what was going to go on.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Oh man, that that would have been cool to see in person, but also stressful as well. Yeah, uh, he's he was good.

Why Bill Sent His Son to Prep School

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Now, Bill, you chose to send your son Rob to a prep school for a postgrad year. And where did you first learn about postgrad and what led you to choosing New Hampton for him?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Wow, that's a while ago now, because my son is uh 37 years old. Um God, we just did some research. Maybe Rob, my son started talking to me about him. So, like all things, I I I knew a lot of college coaches. So I went to different guys I I knew, Mike Bray at Notre Dame, um, John Calapari, he was at Memphis at the time. God, I can't remember, maybe Dick Bennett. Um, and I said, Hey, can you do me a favor? Can you rank prep schools in two categories? One, basketball, which you think the best schools are, and two, academically best schools. And there was a pattern there. There were four or five that kind of were at the top of those lists. So Rob and I had a blast. We went and toured them and talked with those coaches and and we settled on, I should say he settled on New Hampton, which was just a great experience. And it, you know, it's yeah, it enabled him to elevate his game. He ended up signing with University of Maine. Rob was probably a high division two, low division one type player, guard, didn't have my heights. He's about six, two and a half, but competitor. Um, but I really liked the academic situation at New Hampton. He really excelled there, and he'll talk about it as some of his the best year of his life up to that point. Um, food in high school, won a state championship in high school and that kind of stuff. But um New Hampton was really neat.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Nice. And for families out there that are thinking about prep school, you as a former player and a dad, like what would you say to them if they're thinking about this for their son or daughter?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

I I think it's it's you know, it's a great idea because you you yeah, you you you your son, daughter can excel in a in a way they've never been. Depending on what part of the country you're in, you're gonna you're gonna play some incredible against some incredible talent, no matter what sport. We talk obviously talk a lot about basketball, but I think the there's other sports the same. Um, they can really grow with their sport. And it's not just playing those games, it's the practices, it's the scrimmages against other guys. But yet again, I think academically, it's a great way to grow too. And yeah, you I don't know if it's change core, you might know more. It seemed like back then you couldn't get college credit on courses unless you tested out of something. Um but don't don't take that wrong. You're still gonna, you're, you're gonna take that next level of course um with where you came from out of high school, and it and it can make you a better person.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yeah. Well, they had since COVID, a lot more schools now, Bill, are actually offering college courses for kids to get credits. So it's even better now academically, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

All right. Couple more questions here.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

They had some great team. Well, at least at New Hampton, they had some incredible teachers.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Absolutely. All these places do. Like it's just yeah, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Um,

What Makes Nikola Jokic Special

SPEAKER_00 12:43

a couple more questions here for you. You are around Jokic every game, right? Doing what you do in TV. And, you know, you probably see more in the average fan, but what does he have that's special? Or is there something that we don't see on the surface that he has that just takes him to that next level?

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Well, I I mean, his competitiveness is in is just game on. And um his ability, everybody talks about it, but his ability to pass and his his thought, what do you like better? I mean, I remember Shaq and Barclay asked him, you know, at a TNT, what do you like better? An assist or a score? Oh, assist. Why? Because it makes two people happy. That's his game. I mean, people love playing with him. He's he is the most creative, unique passer from a center position ever. Uh maybe, maybe the best passer ever. I don't know. You can look, but definitely from a center standpoint, and he guys just want to play with him. And and he he has made a lot of players a lot of money because their stats all elevate playing with him. Just move and keep your eyes open because that pass could come anytime, anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

And once again, are you are you born with that ability or can you develop to be a good passer? Or is that a sixth sense you kind of have to see the game at a different speed?

SPEAKER_01 14:03

I think he had a little bit of that growing up, but you know, the interesting thing about he, you know, uh Tim Connolly is now the GM of the uh Timberwolves. Um he was GM of the Nuggets when they drafted him. And I'll never forget, um, the year, the year they drafted, he was a second-round pick, 41st, and he was this chubby kid, and supposedly drank like four liters of Coke a day, something stupid. Like, and it yeah, he ends up fine-tuning his body and his workout. He works out with weights after games a lot of times to keep that routine going, and it shows something to other players. But so Tim Conley, they had also drafted, they had drafted Yusuf Nurkic in the first round. And I remember seeing Nurkic in a game a rookie year, and I said, Hey Tim, I kind of like that guy. He had big body back then, big body inside bully ball, you know, got pretty good hands. I said, you know, there's some potential there. He goes, let me tell you something. If you like him, wait till you see Nikola Jokic. We got him stashed over in Europe right now, but next year he'll be there. And sure enough, I mean, holy crap. Because they and for a while, Malone played them together, and they realized, you know, they needed to trade one. Well, they made the right choice on trade and you use of Nurkic, and Joker's just been unbelievable ever since.

Stomp, Shark Tank, and Basketball Traction

SPEAKER_00 15:31

All right, last thing here. You and I were together last week for a premiere of a product called Stomp, you're involved with, and we watched them on Shark Tank, and uh, we can say it now. They signed a deal with Mr. Wonderful, and uh, give us your quick spin on uh what the product stomp is and what people might like about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, well, we first off, go to our website. That's all it's stompathics. That's plural, stompathletics.com, and see all the craziness. Where they're traction mats. There's nothing on the market. You know, kids lick their hands, wipe their feet. You got sticky mats that are really expensive. That's why high schools, most high schools don't use them. They're too expensive. It's a buck a sheet, and you're peeling off three or four at a time, and that's a but a partner that developed this product. It's it's there's three pieces, heat, heat laminated, non-slip rubber backing, has this foam, and then you have a um antimicrobial water-resistant cloth that you can print on, any logo you want, and you wipe your feet, and we call it chirping. Yeah, wait a second. I'll show you. Here we go. Here's one we did for the University of Denver. So just the logo. You just wipe your feet on that, and um if you hit the floor, your feet will chirp and it works. The great thing about it's water resistant, it doesn't really wear out, which is not good for business, but you could have this for a long, long time. You just rinse it. If you want it back really quick, put a hairdryer on it, about a 30 seconds of minute will be dry, or you just leave it out overnight. But even when it's dirty, it works. And we're probably in 60 or 70 Division I uh universities now. And the Nuggets have it in their practice court. We were at the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis uh at Center Court. And yeah, we were on the long story on Shark Tank, but they they wanted us, they reviewed us, and then we filmed last June, and Mr. Wonderful picked us up, and guess what? Our sales are up about 8x daily. So it's it's going great. We're having it's just fun. It's fun to do things with your friends, and this product works. So there's three things there's shoe armor that goes over the top of your shoe. Volleyball girls really like that. Basketball players some of them wear it too. Sometimes they don't want to wear them. We're super lightweight. And then there's a mini-mat, goes in your backpack or coach clipboard. You just throw it on your bench, wipe your feet, boom, you got instant traction. And then the bigger mats you might put by a scores table and logo it any way you want. So those are the three we have right now. But yeah, between Amazon, our website, BSN, some other things, yeah, we're we're we're doing pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Awesome. Well, Bill, thank you for sharing your story today, a little bit of your expertise and sharing stomp with us. I know you're a busy man with the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs. So thanks for coming on, and we'll see you next time on the Prep Athletics Podcast. All right.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Kids that don't have a path to college, look at prep schools. They can work.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

I appreciate that. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on the Prep Athletics Podcast. Take care.