2024-25 Season
After constructing almost an entirely new team that competed for an Atlantic Sun Conference championship up until the final two weeks of the season, Hamilton put himself in the conversation for a second straight ASUN Coach of the Year award.
 
The Colonels lost four starters, 82% of their rebounds, 77% of their assists, 77% of their minutes and 75% of their points from the 2024 ASUN championship squad.  However, Hamilton’s rebuilding skills were on full display from the start as the Colonels went on the road and beat East Tennessee, led Clemson by four with less than 13 minutes left in the game and nearly beat Louisville during the non-conference portion of the schedule.  The Cardinals had to hit a last second shot to beat EKU by one. 
 
Once conference season started, EKU put together its longest conference winning streak in 59 years.  The Colonels used an 8-game ASUN winning streak to climb to the top of the league standings, beating eventual champion Lipscomb twice during that run.  The team also had three wins against two more postseason tournament teams – Florida Gulf Coast (2) and Queens (1).
 
EKU is the only team in the ASUN to have a winning streak of seven or more conference games in each of the past two seasons.  During the 2024-25 season, the Colonels ranked 14th in NCAA Division I in offensive rebounds, 25th in turnovers committed, 25th in turnover margin, 33rd in steals and 37th in 3-pointers made.
 
Devontae Blanton capped his stellar career by earning first team All-ASUN honors.  He was a candidate for ASUN Player of the Year after putting together a season in which he was the only player in the conference ranked among the top-15 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and field goal percentage.  He is the only player in program history to score 1,600 points, grab more than 800 rebounds and dish out more than 400 assists.  He concluded his time as a Colonel ranked second in EKU history in scoring, fourth in assists and seventh in rebounds.
 
George Kimble III joined the program after one season in Division II and became a second team all-conference selection under Hamilton’s guidance.  One of the premier defenders in the ASUN, Kimble finished sixth in the nation in steals per game.  Mayar Wol was chosen as the ASUN Sixth Man of the Year.  Former Kentucky Mr. Basketball Turner Buttry turned in his best season and set a new program record with 47 consecutive free throws.
 
Montavious Myrick was one of the most improved players in the nation.  In 2023-24, Myrick averaged 1.7 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.4 blocks, 0.2 steals and 0.04 assists per game.  In 2024-25, he averaged 6.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.  He finished third in the conference in rebounding, first in offensive rebounds, fifth in blocks and 13th in steals.  He was second in the ASUN with 10 or more rebounds in 13 games.

2023-24 Season
Multiple national preseason publications, and two preseason polls conducted by the league office, picked the Colonels to win the ASUN Conference in 2023-24.  CollegeInsider.com had the Colonels ranked as the 20th-best team in their Preseason Mid Major Top 25.  EKU won its first seven conference games, which tied the best start to conference play in program history.  No squad had started the league schedule with seven straight wins since 1959-60.

A win over Jacksonville on Jan. 25 was Hamilton’s 97th as coach of the Colonels.  He moved past Max Good (96) as the fourth winningest coach in program history.  Paul McBrayer (214), Jeff Neubauer (188) and Rome Rankin (135) make up the top three.  Hamilton finished his sixth season with 104 wins.

The Colonels set a new program mark for blocks in a game with 13 against Troy on Nov. 27.  For the second straight season, the team set a new single season blocks record with 190.  This squad also set a new mark with 6.13 blocks per game.  EKU was fifth in the nation in blocks per game, 14th in rebounds per game (40.13), 17th in offensive rebounds per game (13.23) and 29th in scoring (80.8/game).

Under Hamilton, EKU has led the ASUN Conference in attendance each of the last two years.

In his second year in the program, Isaiah Cozart turned in one of the most impressive seasons in program history under Hamilton’s guidance.  Cozart was chosen as the ASUN Player of the Year and the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year.  He was the unanimous selection as defensive player of the year and the first player in conference history to earn player and defensive player of the year recognition in the same season.  Cozart was also chosen First Team All-ASUN, First Team NABC All-District and played in the Reese’s Division I All-Star Game in Phoenix during the Final Four.  Following the season, Cozart was selected as a finalist for the 2024 Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year Award and the 2024 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year Award.  In April, he was invited to the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational, a pre-NBA Draft Combine tournament.

All these honors came after Cozart averaged 15.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.87 blocks per game while shooting 65 percent from the field.  He led the NCAA in blocks (116) and blocks per game.  He ranked fifth in the nation in offensive rebounds (4.10/game), sixth in field goal percentage, 17th in rebounding and 26th in double-doubles (14).  He recorded EKU’s first ever triple-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 11 blocks against Troy.

Cozart finished the 2023-24 season with 467 points and 301 rebounds, just the sixth time in program history a player has eclipsed 400 points and 300 rebounds in the same season.  He was the first EKU player to average a double-double since 1995-96.  That feat has now only been accomplished 25 times in program history and only four times since 1978-79.

The Richmond native left EKU as the program record holder for career field goal percentage, blocks in a season, blocks in a game and career blocks.

In addition to Cozart’s success on the court, one of Hamilton’s first recruits concluded his decorated career.  Michael Moreno ended his career first in program history in 3-pointers made (334) and games played (161), second in rebounds (958), sixth in scoring (1,631) and eighth in steals (168).  During EKU’s game at Stetson on Moreno grabbed his 900th career rebound becoming the only player in program history with 1,500 points and 900 rebounds.

Leland Walker earned First Team All-ASUN honors and Second Team NABC All-District recognition.  He set a new program record with 16 assists in a game.  Devontae Blanton, the 2023 ASUN Preseason Player of the Year, earned Third Team All-ASUN honors.  John Ukomadu finished second in the 2024 College Slam Dunk Championship in Phoenix.

2022-23 Season
In 2022-23, Hamilton led the Colonels to the championship game of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).  It was the program’s first national postseason tournament title game ever and the first time in 78 years that an EKU team won three games in a national tournament.

Despite being picked to finish 10th in the ASUN Conference in 2022-23, the Colonels placed third.  EKU led all NCAA Division I teams in Kentucky in wins (23).  The squad broke 19 program records, including points in a season, blocks in a season, field goals in a season and games played.  Hamilton was a finalist for the 2023 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award which honors coaches who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off it as well.

Moreno set single game program records for 3-pointers (11) and 3-point attempts (22) in 2022-23.  Blanton capped the 2022-23 season by earning first team All-ASUN honors, first team NABC All-District recognition, and ASUN and CBI All-Tournament distinction.

Hamilton with all-time leading scorer Nick Mayo

The 2022 recruiting class, the highest ranked EKU class ever, was ranked as high as 65th in the nation by 247Sports – higher than such programs as Kansas State, Pittsburgh, national champion Connecticut, Georgia and Oklahoma State.  The class included the program’s first-ever ESPN four-star freshman recruit, a former four-star high school prospect, a three-star freshman point guard, a former three-star high school forward, a three-star freshman center, a junior college All-American and Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball, the first to come to EKU as a freshman since 1980.

2021-22 Season
Hamilton reached a special milestone during the 2021-22 season.  EKU’s win over North Alabama on Feb. 16, 2022, was Hamilton’s 300th victory as a head coach.

The Colonels broke program records that season for 3-pointers in a game (25), 3-pointers attempted in a game (51), 3-pointers made (363) and attempted (1,029) in a season, and 3-point field goals in a road game (18).

EKU ranked second in the country in turnover margin (+5.84), third in 3-pointers per game (11.71), fourth in steals per game (10.19), seventh in turnovers forced (17.42) and 19th in offensive rebounds (12.58).  The team led the ASUN in all those categories as well.

2020-21 Season
In 2020-21 Hamilton was a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award after leading the Colonels to a 22-7 mark and winning the most conference games in program history (15).  The team ranked as high as No. 12 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 and concluded that season ranked 25th.

Those 22 wins are tied for the fourth-most in program history.  The .759 winning percentage in 2020-21 was the best by a Colonel team since 1964-65, and was the highest winning percentage by any NCAA Division I team in the Commonwealth of Kentucky that season.  The squad began the 2020-21 campaign with a 14-2 mark, the best start for an EKU team in 74 years.  The Colonels also led the nations in steals (10.3 per game).

During the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, the Colonels won 27 conference games combined which is the most-ever for the program during a two-year period.

Wendell Green Jr. broke the single game assist record, the freshman record for assists in a season and was selected to the Freshman All-America Team in 2020-21.  .

2019-20 Season
Following a 6-12 conference record in his first season, Hamilton reversed those numbers to the tune of a 12-6 league mark in 2019-20.  He was chosen as the conference and NABC District Coach of the Year.  It was the first time since 1987 an EKU coach was chosen as the conference coach of the year.

In addition to leading the country in steals, the Colonels ranked second in turnovers forced per game, second in turnover margin, second in tempo/pace and eighth in scoring.

2018-19 Season
The Georgetown, Kentucky native was hired as Eastern Kentucky University's 21st men's basketball head coach on March 23, 2018.

In his first season at the helm, Hamilton brought “The Most Exciting 40 Minutes in Sports” to Richmond.  The Colonels played an up-tempo style of basketball, ranking 13th in the country in scoring at 82.6 points per game.  On Dec. 29, 2018, EKU shattered the program’s single-game scoring record with 145 points in a win over Brescia University.  In the process, the Colonels broke the conference record for points in a half with 87.

Nick Mayo had the best season of his decorated career in 2018-19, ranking 10th in the country in scoring and becoming the first Colonel since 2002 to drop 40 points in a game

“There isn't a better place to be the head coach than at Eastern Kentucky University," Hamilton said.  “The opportunity to come home and coach at a place like this is one that I cannot truly put into words.”

Before EKU
A former prep star at Scott County High School, Hamilton spent the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach under Kevin Keatts at North Carolina State University.  He helped lead the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament with a 21-12 record, including wins over No. 2 Arizona, No. 2 Duke and No. 10 North Carolina.
 
Before joining Keatts in Raleigh, Hamilton was the head coach of one of the top prep basketball programs in the country, Hargrave Military Academy, from 2011 to 2017.  Hargrave reached unprecedented levels of success during Hamilton’s six-year tenure, compiling a record of 237-22, averaging 40 wins per season and winning the 2016 National Prep Championship.

Hamilton’s Hargrave teams posted eye-popping numbers, setting the school record for wins in a season (47, 2016) and points scored in a single game (163, 2017).  His 2015-16 squad averaged 114 points per game.  Across the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, the Tigers won 45 straight games and went 364 days between losses.  Hamilton was named the National Prep Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2016.
 
Before being named head coach at Hargrave, Hamilton was an assistant under Keatts at the school from 2006 to 2011.  During Hamilton’s 11 years with the program, Hargrave produced 113 NCAA Division I players, one McDonald’s All-American, one Parade All-American and nine NBA players.  On Sept. 21, 2017, Hamilton was inducted into the Hargrave Military Academy Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
Hamilton starred at Scott County High School in the late 1990s, leading the Cardinals to a state championship in 1998 and a state runner-up finish in 1999.  He was named first team all-state and played in the prestigious Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Game following his senior season.  On Sept. 4, 2015, Hamilton was inducted into the Scott County High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
Hamilton was the starting point guard for Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy during the 1999-2000 season, leading the Tigers to a 23-3 record and a No. 2 national ranking.  While at Hargrave, Hamilton signed a full scholarship to play basketball at Wake Forest University.
 
After a year and a half at Wake Forest, Hamilton transferred to Marshall University.  He was a three-year captain for the Thundering Herd (2002-05), and led the team in assists, steals and minutes played all three seasons he was there.  Hamilton ranks in the top 10 in school history in assists and in the top 20 in steals.  Following his playing days in Huntington, Hamilton served as Marshall’s graduate assistant for one season (2005-06).

Hamilton earned a bachelor’s of science in communications from Marshall in 2005.