Daniel Hamilton, Jean-Claude Dan Ham if you’re nasty, is a truly unique player. Despite his 6’7” frame, he maneuvers the court like a point guard. Despite weighing only 190 pounds, he is one of the best defensive rebounders in UConn history.
Hamilton finished the season with 451 points, 321 rebounds and 170 assists. The only player in America to match those totals was LSU’s Ben Simmons, likely a top-2 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft. If you’re looking for the last UConn player to accomplish such a feat, you’ll be looking for a while, because none has.
Hamilton led the AAC in defensive rebounds for the second year in a row. His totals from this season and last represent the two highest in the conference’s brief history. He also led the league in total rebounds and assists.
As we detailed last week, Hamilton’s performance during UConn’s run to the AAC Tournament championship was legendary, arguably the greatest in the storied history of the program.
After only two years on campus, Hamilton has surpassed 800 career points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists. Only three other UConn players can claim to have done that in their entire careers: Shabazz Napier, Scott Burrell and Tony Hanson.
The craziest thing about Hamilton’s stat line is that he still has so much room for improvement. He failed to score in double-figures in 11 of UConn’s 36 games this season (30.6 percent). When his buddy, center Amida Brimah, missed 11 games due to a midseason injury, Hamilton shot 30.3 percent from the floor and averaged only 10.5 points per game. In Brimah’s 25 games, Hamilton shot 42.1 percent and averaged 13.4 points per game. Brimah is a good player, but Hamilton can’t let the presence of the big man dictate his own performance.
The other knock on Hamilton this year was his shot selection. He launched 142 three-pointers, almost four per game. He made only 33.1 percent of them. To make matters worse, Hamilton struggled mightily to get to the foul line, posting a free throw rate of .243, the second-lowest mark on the team, to freshman Jalen Adams. Hamilton was even worse in conference play (.194), despite making 86.8 percent of his foul shots during AAC games. He should have sacrificed some of those long-range shots in search of drawing contact in the paint.
We witnessed a maturation in Hamilton this season, but one that is not yet complete. With the new rules surrounding exploring, committing and withdrawing from the NBA Draft this summer, it’s possible he will take a look at his stock. When he does, he will likely learn that his game needs more polish before he can succeed at the next level.
Hamilton played a genuinely incredible season of basketball. If he continues to improve this offseason, we’ll be in for a show next year.
Cant let him make a mistake and leave. Too many players have gone that route and (probably) later regretted it.
Marcus Williams immediately comes to my mind