Ex-USC athlete Owen Hanson warns of ‘cocaine quarterback’ journey

Owen Hanson’s body was in FCI Englewood, a low-security federal correctional facility in Colorado, but his mind was elsewhere.

While a correctional officer was proctoring an exam that counted toward Hanson’s master’s degree, Hanson was thinking about USC. When he was working out, he mentally was at Equinox. The protein shake he made in a mop bucket? That was from Earthbar.

But regardless of where he placed his mind and body, one thought recurred for the former USC athlete.

“I was worried about it the whole time I was in prison,” Hanson said. “Like, are any of my Trojan brothers, my teammates, going to welcome me? Or are they gonna just write me off? Now that I’m a conviction felon, are they going to accept me?”

Hanson has had many names — California Kid, O-Dog, Cocaine Quarterback. But today, he’s just trying to be Owen while doing all he can to make up for mistakes that can’t be taken back.

In December 2017, the Redondo Beach native was sentenced to 255 months in prison for a drug trafficking, gambling and money laundering enterprise that spanned the United States, Central and South America and Australia.

Sports were at the center of it all. Not only did Hanson traffic myriad drugs and even sell performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes and teammates, he also oversaw a high-stakes illegal gambling operation focused on sports betting.

“Once I crossed that path of bookmaking or gambling, it just grew,” said Hanson, who co-wrote a memoir titled “The California Kid” and is the subject of an Amazon Prime three-part docuseries. “And you’re chasing a rush. As an athlete, we’re adrenaline junkies, and you want to keep chasing and chasing.”

He was released from prison in 2024 after cooperating with Australian authorities on an investigation into the drug ring and returned to the Coliseum for the Trojans’ game against Iowa this fall to spend time with his former teammates.

Aside from a 2024 visit to campus, it was his first time back at USC in 20 years.

He committed to play volleyball at USC as an outside hitter in 2000 and later walked on to the football team as a tight end. He joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Anything to help him, with his working-class family background, blend in at USC.

“I was the son of a construction worker. Obviously, I didn’t fit in,” Hanson said. “Everyone had the American Express Black Card. Everyone had their mom and dad’s Mercedes.

“I’m around all these people, and I want to be like them. I want to be able to have a nice cocktail, to go out with a sorority girl and be able to pay for it and drive a Mercedes because everyone around me is doing it. And if I don’t, then I don’t fit in and I’m not welcome.”

That insecurity led to a willingness to get involved with drugs and gambling that only deepened as time went on. It’s a cycle that Hanson fears can still be repeated today, and it’s inspired him to reach young athletes in any way he can.

“I’m not going to hide behind excuses for my crimes,” Hanson writes in the opening pages.  “I’m not going to pretend I was a good person in doing what I did, because I wasn’t. When you’re sentenced to two decades behind bars, you get a lot of time for self-reflection. This book is my self-reflection.”

His goal is to speak to the USC football team and he’s already spoken to the men’s basketball team as well as the coaching staff.

“I met Owen at a football game, and we started talking,” USC men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman said in a statement to Southern California News Group.

“I brought him to talk with our players as I felt like his story would resonate with them. I admire how he is using his story to make a positive change.”

Money management and sports gambling are central themes when he talks with athletes – both of which are timely.

The NCAA released a statement Nov. 7 about an NCAA investigation that revealed six student-athletes from New Orleans, Mississippi Valley and Arizona State were involved in separate cases of gambling activity related to college basketball.

Players had manipulated games or provided information to known bettors. They are now permanently ineligible to play college sports.

There was a similar occurrence in September, when three Fresno State and San Jose State men’s basketball players bet on their own games or one another’s games. Two of them altered their own performances to guarantee bets were won.

The Dayton men’s basketball team is currently withholding Adam Njie, an Iona transfer, from participation due to possible involvement in college basketball gambling activity that may include illegal gambling, game-fixing and performance manipulation.

“I feel like it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Hanson said. “It’s so easy for someone to go down the path I once went down. With NIL, these athletes are getting paid money where now they have disposable income, where they can go bet on a sporting event.”

Hanson doesn’t see himself as a motivational speaker, but more of a “preventative speaker,” as he calls it. He spends his time sharing his message wherever he can while also managing his protein ice cream company, California Ice Protein, that was inspired by the protein shakes he made in a mop bucket while in prison.

Going to USC was a dream for Hanson. His mom attended the school and his dad was an avid Trojans football fan. He drove the luxury cars and raked in the cash, just like he wanted to do in order to be part of the “in” crowd.

But it was prison that gave him a perspective that he’s spreading to others – as well as living out himself – as he mends his connection to USC.

“Just be yourself,” Hanson said. “People should accept you for who you are. If they don’t, oh well. Guess what? You’ll find someone that will.”