John Hamilton has joined the Transylvania men’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2019-20 season, head coach Brian Lane announced Wednesday.   

A former Division III basketball player with an array of coaching experience, Hamilton comes to the Pioneers from Midway University in Midway, Kentucky, where he spent the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach for their men’s basketball program.

“As a former Division III student-athlete and coach, John will have a very good understanding of what are guys are going through on a daily basis,” said Lane. “He will be active with both our varsity and junior varsity programs and will also spend a great deal of time on the recruiting trail.”

“I am beyond blessed to have this opportunity to be a part of the men’s basketball program at Transylvania University,” Hamilton said. “I am so grateful to head coach Brian Lane for giving me this opportunity. I am looking forward to joining this winning culture and to help this program improve every day.”

At Midway, Hamilton assisted in all facets of the men’s basketball program, including designing practice and in-game management, developing scouting report, recruiting, overseeing practices, and helping guide the academic progress of student-athletes. Two players under Hamilton’s guidance earned All-Conference honors. In Hamilton’s tenure at Midway, the Eagles saw a 10-game improvement from two years prior.

Prior to his time at Midway, Hamilton served as an assistant coach at Division III Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana for the 2017-2018 season. Under head coach Chris Dorsey, Hamilton helped the Gents finish as the regular season runner-up in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and a runner-up in the SCAC Tournament. With Hamilton on the staff, Centenary led the conference in scoring defense and second in the conference in both field goal and three-point field goal defense.

While at Centenary, Hamilton spearheaded the process of creating and managing an online national recruiting database for the men’s basketball program.

Hamilton began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Central Community College in Columbus Nebraska, where he helped guide the Raiders to an 18-14 record in 2016-17.

In addition to his collegiate coaching stints, Hamilton has been involved with a number of other leadership and coaching endeavors intersecting with the game of basketball. From 2015 through 2017, Hamilton was a Director of Operations Intern and Youth Mentor with The Young Vets, mentoring student-athletes and directing player development. Over the past two years, Hamilton has also worked as a basketball camp counselor with camps held at the University of Kentucky and Valparaiso University.

As a student-athlete, Hamilton competed at Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont from 2014 through 2016. At Lyndon State, Hamilton played under Dorsey, whom he would later join with again for his coaching duties at Centenary. Hamilton graduated from Lyndon State in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

The Pioneers tip-off their 2019-20 season on Friday, November 8 at the Harrington Center in Cincinnati, Ohio versus Wilmington (Ohio) College at 7:00 p.m.

https://transysports.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/releases/20191106gh36pb