In high school and college he was known for his strong offense, while his quick and agile moves to the basket drew comparisons to the likes of Dominique Wilkins.

[5][6][7] Darrin Hancock was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama but relocated to the small community of Griffin, Georgia, south of Atlanta in Spalding County, when he was in sixth grade.

Hancock instantly emerged as the star of the team and was considered as one of the state's top freshman high school basketball players during the 1986–87 season.

[9] He managed to lead the 25–2[10] Griffin Bears in points and rebounds[11] as well as helping his number two ranked school[11] seize the state's Region 6-AAAA championship title, all the while before completing his freshman year.

[12] The Griffin Bears continued to flourish with Hancock, as the now number one ranked basketball squad posted a 28–1 record[13] and claimed their second Region 6-AAAA title during the 1987–88 season.

[14] Darrin Hancock finished the season averaging 17 points per game while earning the distinct honor of being the first sophomore to be named as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's state Player of the Year.

[23] The All-American eventually signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in the spring of 1990[24] but was ultimately disqualified from accepting an NCAA Division I scholarship (under Proposition 48 guidelines) because of his grade point average.

Darrin Hancock relocated from his Georgia home to the Midwest and settled in rural Finney County, Kansas in 1990 to begin his enrollment at Garden City Community College.

He joined Garden City's basketball squad as the team's star swingman and averaged 17.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.7 steals during his freshman season.

[29] Hancock also captured the attention of the nearby University of Kansas, whose powerhouse basketball program successfully persuaded him to become a Jayhawk for the upcoming 1992–93 season on an athletic scholarship.

Though Kansas eventually lost to North Carolina in the Final Four, the team's outstanding performance earned the squad a top ten nationwide ranking during the regular season, including a brief time spent at number one.

[25] In July 1993 he abruptly left the university after undisclosed personal issues forced the Jayhawk small forward to miss required summer school coursework and thus become academically ineligible to play on the team.

[25] Hancock transferred to Indiana State University in September but had a change of heart after one month, choosing instead to pursue a professional career in Europe.

[41] However, many of Charlotte's rookie prospects were already selected by time it was their turn; and therefore the Hornets tapped Hancock with the 38th overall pick of the draft after he impressed the organization with athleticism that complimented the team's running game style of play.

Hancock saw limited playing time in his NBA Playoffs debut as the Hornets shifted players around in order to keep a big lineup against the Chicago Bulls.

[50] The now second-year NBA swingman began to see a dramatic increase in playing time after Burrell suffered a season-ending dislocated shoulder on New Year's Eve.

[51] This time around Charlotte went with Dell Curry as the team's new replacement starting shooting guard, designating Hancock as the Hornets' primary guard-forward swingman reserve.

Darrin Hancock was signed by the Milwaukee Bucks on October 3, 1996[53] and his strong defensive front court presence helped the former Hornet survive the team's off-season cuts.

[53] However, Hancock's future soon looked promising when Tyrone Corbin, the Atlanta Hawks' starting small forward, went down with a sprained left ankle in late December.

He soon found an opportunity to in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) when the Omaha Racers offered Hancock a deal to play for the team in late January.

[58] Hancock departed the CBA soon thereafter and found his way back into the big leagues on a 10-day contract with the San Antonio Spurs on January 29, 1997, joining his fifth NBA team in three seasons.