Brandenburg Assistant Leaves SDSU for Drake

Maury Hanks, assistant basketball coach at San Diego State University, resigned Monday to accept a similar position at Drake University.

Hanks will work for Rudy Washington, who was named coach at Drake April 1. Hanks first met Washington 10 years ago when Washington was an assistant coach at USC and Hanks was in high school.

“You don’t get the opportunity everyday to work with your best friend and the opportunity to rebuild a program,” Hanks said. “Anyone who grew up around Los Angeles basketball knew Rudy Washington. He helped me get my job at Clemson.”

Hanks, 28, was an assistant at Clemson for two years before coming to SDSU as a part-time assistant in 1987--Coach Jim Brandenburg’s first season. He is the third assistant and last from Brandenburg’s original staff to leave SDSU in the past year. Charles Bradley and Kevin McLeod left after the 1988-89 season, Bradley going to Brigham Young and McLeod to Weber State.

“It was a tough decision to leave San Diego and San Diego State,” Hanks said. “I know people will think I’m crazy for leaving here to go to Des Moines, Iowa, but the situation was right.”

Neither Washington nor Brandenburg were available for comment.

“We’re really sorry to be losing Maury as he’s been an integral part of the Aztec staff in my three years here,” Brandenburg said in a news release. “I wish him the best of luck at Drake and in the future.”