One-armed basketball star Hansel Enmanuel enters portal
NATCHITOCHES, La. (BVM) – Freshman basketball player Hansel Enmanuel has overcome adversity his entire life. After losing his left arm up to his elbow at the age of 6 due to an accident, Enmanuel has proven that one doesn’t need both arms to succeed in sports as he has risen to the level of Division I basketball player as a member of the Northwestern State Demons last year. However, Enmanuel’s future became a bit murkier on Monday.
Early Monday morning, Enmanuel announced his decision to transfer out of Northwestern State.
“As I enter the transfer portal, I am reminded of the power of patience,” Enmanuel told Joe Tipton of On3.com. “I am willing to wait and trust the process, even if it means waiting an entire season to achieve my goals. I am grateful for my family, my teammates, my agency and especially my coaches and trainers who have supported me and guided me along the right path. I thank God for giving me the wisdom and strength to stay patient and to trust that everything happens for a reason.”
Enmanuel didn’t get a lot of opportunities to prove himself last season with the Demons, but he grew into his role as the season continued. The 6-foot-6, 175-pound guard averaged 1.7 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 8.2 minutes while playing 20 of the team’s 33 games. However, Enmanuel earned the trust of the coaches later in the year as he earned five starts in the final five games of the year, including in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game where he recorded a season-high 25 minutes of action.
Emmanuel Hansel has announced that he's entering the transfer portal after spending 1 season at Northwestern State pic.twitter.com/2tu5MANVnF
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) March 20, 2023
While his numbers may not look great on paper, Enmanuel has been able to show that he has as much game as everyone. His highlights, including his first bucket and even an emphatic putback dunk, have made their way into the national spotlight thanks to his uplifting story and play with only one arm.
HANSEL ENMANUEL PUTBACK DUNK 😤💥
(🎥: @SouthlandSports)
pic.twitter.com/C9M3ZULuLx— theScore (@theScore) January 27, 2023
As a recruit, Enmanuel earned scholarship offers from Bethune-Cookman, Memphis and Tennessee State alongside his offer from Northwestern State so any one of those programs could be interested in the transfer. But, the likely frontrunner is Austin Peay as Northwestern State’s head coach from this past season, Corey Gipson, was announced as the head coach of the Governors earlier this month.
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘆 𝗚𝗶𝗽𝘀𝗼𝗻. 🎩🏀@GJHJ has announced that Gipson will be the 14th head coach in @GovsMBB history!
🗞️ –> https://t.co/NCuGb5lyNI#LevelUp23 | #LetsGoPeay pic.twitter.com/c2uvXUCNyN
— Austin Peay Governors (@letsgopeay) March 13, 2023
Regardless of where Enmanuel ends up, he will bring plenty of eyes with him. Due to his story and perseverance, Enmanuel is ranked as the No. 1 player in college basketball for Name, Image and Likeness value thanks to having 4.3 million followers across his Instagram and TikTok pages. He has also appeared in a number of commercials including with Adidas and Gatorade.
With hundreds of players entering the portal this offseason, there will be many players who will find new homes for next year. Though there are a lot of names to follow, perhaps no player in the portal will have a more interesting recruitment than Enmanuel, who will look to bring his special story and game to another university next season.
