Quite a Dynamo — Hansen and wife make a difference in Moscow

Asked via an Internet phone hookup from Moscow how it feels to be "red," the color worn by BYU's hated rival Utah, Hansen said with a laugh, "I knew that was coming."

"Actually, the Russian people are great. I love it here. We live in an English-speaking settlement with a great LDS branch. Our neighbors are lawyers and executives of oil companies and people who work at the U.S. Embassy. We have our own grocery store, and the basketball here is just awesome. My son plays on a team every Saturday."

The Dynamo take care of players like Hansen. Euroleague teams are restricted in how many Americans they can put on their roster at a time and how many foreigners they can have on the floor at the same time. Hansen was getting about 24 minutes a game. Now that he has Russian citizenship, his minutes may increase significantly.

Of course, the competitors don't like the move. In a courtesy vote taken of the 54 Euroleague teams asking if Hansen should be given Russian citizenship, 53 voted no.

The Dynamo have provided Hansen with a beautiful house, two cars, a professional driver, and a full-time cook and nanny to care for his son. He gets a dozen first-class tickets a year to use how he wants to for his family to travel from America to Russia, or the reverse. He also has some great tax breaks, an advantage to what he'd pay if he lived in the States.

More than a year ago, Hansen ruptured his Achilles tendon and underwent surgery. Fortunately, the repair took. And now he believes he is playing the best basketball of his life.

"I honestly think I play better now. I feel better. I move slower, but I think I play smarter and shoot better. I'm not bouncing around all the time," he said.

Hansen was a versatile player at Mountain View and BYU, where he earned MWC defensive player-of-the-year and all-MWC honors under coach Steve Cleveland. He can play point guard, small forward, shooting guard and power forward if called upon. He has an explosive move to the basket and is a great finisher off the dribble.

If Hansen is invited to play on the Russian Olympic team, his summer will be full. He also has The Elevate Youth Foundation, a charity basketball camp at Open Court in Utah (July 9-11) partnered up with Little Heroes, a charitable foundation for Russian orphans that was established by LaRee.

With former Cougar and Jazzman Andy Toolson, Jim Hanchett (Oregon State), Allan Pollard (BYU) and Jared Miller (BYU), camp proceeds go toward helping students with learning disabilities through home-based grants and Little Heroes orphans.

Travis and his wife have made a significant impact in Moscow, which the Russian media have noted.