How Hannah Hank's Geelong are dominating

Feature image via: pics.by.tre

With an 8-0 record, Geelong United is travelling at a historic pace to start the 2025 NBL1 South season. 

Dominating the then fourth-placed Dandenong Rangers on Saturday, 95-66, Geelong look like a true contender in the NBL1 South this season. 

One of the key factors in their success has been Hannah Hank, the 6’2” forward that’s averaging 16.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists for Geelong. 

It’s been a meteoric rise for the Clemson University alumnus, born in the regional town of Port Lincoln, Hank’s career has taken her to four different NBL1 conferences, (Central - then Premier League -West, North and now South) and her debut WNBL season last year. 

The 24-year-old is averaging a career-high in points, and she told NBL1 Media how long she’s been building to this moment. 

“Just staying the course and chipping away at my game, I think having a growth mindset is something that I really value and that I try and keep at the forefront of what I'm about, and how I go about my business,” she said. 

“That's just helped me keep levelling up and growing as a player. You just try and make the best of every situation you step into; every opportunity is another chance to improve and continue growing.” 

One role model she gives a lot of credit to is Casey “Milo” Mihovilovich, a legend of Western Australian basketball who was the team’s captain during Hank’s 2023 season in Mandurah. 

Milo is the epitome of leadership, work ethic and what it takes to succeed on and off the court, and Hank has taken that mindset into her career. 

“I learnt a lot from her, she's definitely an awesome leader for the Magic and just a great person in the community there. A woman in a leadership role who is about her business,” she said.

“She definitely helped me in my first year as a professional. I'd just graduated from college, and that was my first opportunity as a pro. She was a great mentor for me and has continued to cheer me on even when I came back and played over there in Perth in the WNBL. She made sure she was at the game, and that stuff like that goes a long way when you play a sport like basketball, which as an occupation, means you move around a lot. When people really make an effort to come out and cheer you on when you're back in their state. It is really special.” 

Hank explained that the NBL1 South in particular has been stacked this season, making every game a battle despite Geelong’s immense talent. We’ve seen a lot of superteams in the NBL1, but Geelong have truly recruited a WNBL side on paper. 

With no one player scoring more than 28 points in a single game and United having a current margin of victory of a staggering 21.6 points per game, they are truly dominant thus far. 

Hank explained how the chemistry from the WNBL season has carried over and how their team culture has allowed them to succeed through two months.

“Everyone's really humble, we all want to score out of our offence. We have so many threats, but I think what makes us great is that we're happy to pass up a good shot for a great shot,” she said.

“And our offence has opportunities for everyone to capitalise. It's just a matter of where we find the mismatch or where there's a break down of our position that we can capitalise on.

It just stems from having good people and everyone bought into what we're trying to achieve here in Geelong.” 

She particularly mentioned Lilly Rotunno as a key piece to their success,having played for Keilor last year, Rotunno has sacrificed a larger role to coordinate Geelong’s offence. The WNBL talent is more than capable of running her own show (as she has done in the North), but Hank says she’s played an integral part so far. 

“Lil is awesome for us as a facilitating point guard and someone who takes pride in her defensive presence. She gets us through our stuff, she can definitely score, but there’s so much that she brings to the game for our team. She’s an integral part of our success,” Hank said. 

“I also have to give Taylor Mole her flowers, who has battled through injury and worked so hard to get back on court. Not only that, but she found ways to make light of the situation using her swimming rehab as an opportunity to fundraise money for charity. I’m really proud of her and excited to have her rejoin the team. 

“I'm just really proud of how the group is gelling and having the experience playing together in the WNBL to now flow onto NBL1. I think it's giving us all a lot of confidence.” 

With the likes of Knox, Waverley, Keilor, Diamond Valley, Dandenong and more chasing them for top spot, Hank says the team is taking each week one Round at a time, rather than envisioning possible finals match-ups. 

“The South is so competitive, you can't forecast too far into the future and we really take it a game at a time,” she said. 

“Something really important to us is making sure that we focus on us, what we're trying to achieve, what we're trying to run and dictate how the game goes with our pressure. We're very much an intense defensive opponent for any matchup, because of our upcourt pressure and ability to get in lanes and get people on their heels. Like I said, just take it a game at a time and focus on us.”

Geelong have a gruelling double-header this weekend, taking on the Knox Raiders at the State Basketball Centre on Friday night and then the Pioneers in Mount Gambier on Sunday.

Watch both games live via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.