Tiger Standout to Play D3 Ball With Crusaders of Commonwealth Conference
READING, PA–While former South Plainfield teammate, Chris Mathis is going the D2 route to play at West Virginia Wesleyan, recent Tiger graduate, Jordan Hankerson, is going to play Division III hoops at Alvernia University of the Commonwealth Conference. Hankerson helped the Tigers improve slightly over the 2013-14 season with a 9-15 overall mark including 7-14 in conference play, and 4-10 in the more difficult White Division.
One of the signature wins last season for South Plainfield was an upset win over a Sayreville squad led by Holy Cross bound, Jehyve Floyd, which eventually reached the 2015 GMCT Elite Eight at New Brunswick. In that 68-63 victory at the Bomb Shelter on January 3rd, Hankerson shared game high honors with two other players with 21 points. Hankerson played varsity in at least portions of four seasons at SPHS (See video).
Hankerson splashed on to the varsity scene for the Tigers as a sophomore when he netted several threes in the second half to fuel a South Plainfield rally that came up short against Perth Amboy in the 2012 Anthony J. Cotoia Holiday Tournament run that year at South Plainfield Middle School (See video). On opening night, the following season against defending GMC Blue Division champion, Spotswood, Hankerson made big plays on both sides of the floor including a three pointer, a blocked shot, and a slick bounce pass for a layup in just a span of two minutes to help lead the Tigers to an upset win (See video).
In his four years at SPHS, Hankerson played in a total of 58 games, made 115 field goals, 48 three pointers, and 95 free throws for a total of 466 points, or 8 points per game according to stats posted at nj.com. His last two seasons, where he saw the most playing time, were his most productive. Over his junior and senior years, Hankerson played in 47 games, and averaged 9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 1.0 assists, and 0.6 blocks. In 2014-15, Hankerson had career highs in points per game (11.4), steals per game (2.0), rebounds per game (6.2), assists per game (1.6), and blocks per game (1.0).
Meanwhile, Alvernia University is coming off a solid season in 2014-15. The Crusaders finished 18-10 overall including a 10-6 mark in Commonwealth Conference play. Seeded fourth in the post-season tournament, Alvernia defeated top seeded Lycoming in the semifinals (96-74) and then knocked off 2nd seeded Stevenson in the Championship (58-51). Both games were won on the road. The magical season for the Crusaders ended with an 87-80 loss to Catholic University of the Landmark Conference in the opening round of the NCAA Division 3 Tournament. It was the third straight year that Alvernia played in the NCAA D3 Tourney.