Hazen signs with UCF
Wednesday was the realization of a dream come true for Brachen Hazen.
Sitting in a packed library in front of family, friends, coaches and teammates, the 6-foot-8 forward from Indiana's Columbia City High School put the pen to paper and officially signed with the University of Central Florida.
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"Committing is one thing, but when I actually signed the Letter of Intent it was like a sigh of relief," Hazen said. "I knew I was finally going to play college basketball. It's something I've dreamt of for a really long time, let alone playing for a great school like UCF. It's really exciting."
The Fort Wayne native had committed several weeks back, choosing the Knights over Maryland, Ball State, Valparaiso, Creighton, Clemson and others.
"It was just the people," Hazen said. "Coach Donnie Jones all the way down to the players, managers and supporting staff. They're all just quality people. I can see myself fitting into the program and getting along with everyone. I didn't see a single player that had an ego. That really caught me eye."
Hazen took his official visit to UCF in early September along with Clayton Hughes, a guard from Tennessee who committed a couple weeks before Hazen did.
"He was texting me and saying I should come join him," Hazen said. "That's another thing I liked, the people coming in with me in my class. Really nice and cool guys."
In the time period between the visit and his commitment, Jones and the coaching staff continued to make it very clear he was a top target.
"Coach Donnie and Christian Webster came for an in-home visit and that's when I committed," Hazen said. "They were at a lot of open gyms, at least one a week. They definitely took their time to show how much they wanted me."
During his visit, Hazen spent the most time with freshmen Tacko Fall and Chad Brown.
"I really liked the campus in general," Hazen said. "It was super nice. Kind of like a new vibe, a modern feel. Really cool. I like it being in Orlando. Being in Florida has its perks. Here in Indiana, we don't have year-long nice weather."
As a junior, Hazen averaged 13.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
"They see me as a power four or a stretch four you could say for my freshman year," Hazen said. "They're trying to mold me into a three, a straight three that can step out on the wing and attack the basket. I'm kind of athletic, can grab boards and run the floor really well. They're trying to turn me into a three. Coach Jones was kind of comparing me to a Chandler Parsons. He was a lot of Parsons in me and said I could become the same thing."
Parsons, currently with the Dallas Mavericks, played for Jones at the University of Florida.
"After he said that, I looked at a bunch of Youtube videos of him," Hazen said. "I knew what kind of player he was. I've watched a lot of him and Gordon Hayward."
Being from Indiana, Hazen has often heard comparisons to Hayward, who starred at Butler and now plays for the Utah Jazz.
Growing up, Hazen says he really didn't really have a favorite NBA player or anything like that. He was more into Big Ten basketball, watching games involving nearby Indiana and Purdue. He really enjoyed watching Deshaun Thomas who played for Ohio State.
"He's from Fort Wayne and I played on the same AAU team, so I was being coached by the same people," Hazen said. "It was always fun watching him play."
Hazen feels his Columbia City team has what it takes to make a big run this year.
"We've all been together since like third grade, at least 10 of us on the team," Hazen said. "We're trying to go as far as we can in our state tournament. We're hoping for a state title. We've got all the right tools and we've got great chemistry. We're hoping to do real well in the state tournament."
As for his UCF future, Hazen knows he wants to major in education with an eye towards coaching.
UCF's other two Class of 2016 commitments, Clayton Hughes and Jeremy Sheppard, will sign early next week.
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