SQUADRON ACQUIRE ZACH HANKINS

BIRMINGHAM, AL (November 15, 2021) – The Birmingham Squadron, NBA G League affiliate of the New Orleans Pelicans, announced today that the team has acquired center Zach Hankins. In a corresponding move, the team has waived guard Sayeed Pridgett.

[caption id="attachment_1573" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)[/caption]

Hankins (7-0, 245) joins the Squadron after playing overseas in Israel and the Czech Republic during the 2019-20 season. In 55 games overseas (47 starts), Hankins averaged 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.5 blocks in 20.5 minutes per game. He also played in the NBA Summer League with the Philadelphia 76ers (2019-20) and Phoenix Suns (2020-21), where he averaged 3.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game over six games.
The Charlevoix, Michigan native played three seasons (2015-18) at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan before transferring to Xavier University, where he played as a graduate transfer in 2018-19. In his final season at Ferris State, Hankins led the Bulldogs to a 38-1 record and an NCAA Division II National Championship. He led the team in scoring (15.1 ppg.), rebounding (9.7 rpg.) and field goal percentage (.630), while contributing 1.5 assists per game – earning him a consensus All-American designation and the 2018 NABC Division II National Player of the Year award.

As a graduate transfer at Xavier University (2018-19), Hankins played in 35 games and averaged 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. He finished the season shooting .686 from the field on 162-of-236 attempts, which led the Big East and broke the single-season school record set by Xavier Hall of Famer and long-time NBA standout Brian Grant (.654 in 1992-93).

The Squadron roster now stands at 12.