DENVER – A Notre Dame men’s basketball alum (1980) and Denver philanthropist, Bill Hanzlik, has been awarded the Fatherland Order of Excellence from the Czech Basketball Federation for 2025. A second-generation American, Hanzlik’s grandfather, Henry, was born in Pilsen, educated in Prague, Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia), and immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s.
A four-year player from ’76-80, Hanzlik was named Captain for his senior year. He was selected for the 1980 US Men’s Olympic Team, which did not compete due to the US’ boycott of the Moscow Games.
He was selected in the 1980 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics and went on to play 10 players in the NBA, with his final eight with the Denver Nuggets. Hanzlik went on to coach for another five years before transitioning over into a broadcast role. To this day, he still works as a color analyst for the Nuggets.
He and his wife, Maribeth, raised their family in the Denver area, and Bill operates the Gold Crown Foundation in Lakewood, Colorado, which he co-founded in 1986. The Foundation provides sports and education programs for 16,000 youth annually, with support from 3,000 parent volunteers.
Hanzlik was honored in Prague, Czech Republic, on November 28, 2025, before the Czechia v. Sweden National Team game. In December, Hanzlik was presented with the award in front of staff and children at the Gold Crown Foundation.
The Czech Basketball Federation celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024 and announced its second year of honoring legendary players and coaches of Czech origin in September 2025. The Czech-American honorees are Hanzlik, Jenny Boucek, and Don Kojis in memoriam. The awards for 2024 went to John Havlicek, Joe Lapchick, Frank Kudelka, Chuck Mencel, Bob Netolicky, C.J. Kupec, and two legends of Czechoslovakian basketball, J.A. Pipal and John Brusil. The non-profit Czech National Basketball Museum selects the award winners based on recommendations from the Czechoslovak-American Basketball Hall of Fame website.
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