NC State men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts announced the addition of assistant coach A.W. Hamilton while filling out the remainder of his support positions on Friday.
Hamilton is the third assistant coach hire, joining previously announced assistants James Johnson and Takayo Siddle. Hamilton played for Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy, and after being a graduate assistant at Marshall, joined Keatts staff at Hargrave as an assistant coach starting with the 2006-07 season. When Keatts left to become an assistant coach at Louisville in 2011, he recommended Hamilton take over the Hargrave program.
“I’ve known AW for over 15 years as a player and assistant coach, and I’m excited to have him join our staff,” said Keatts. “His ability to recruit, teach and game plan is exceptional, and he is going to be a great asset for our staff and players.”
Also joining the Pack are Thomas Carr (Director of Basketball Operations), Anthony Wright (Director of Player Personnel), Travis Hackert (Director of Scouting/Quality Control), Patrick Murphy (Head Men’s Basketball Strength & Conditoning Coach) and Hunter Henderson (Director of Multimedia Services/Men’s Basketball).
Carr, Hackert, Henderson and Murphy all come to NC State from UNC-Wilmington, while Wright comes to the Pack after eight years at Louisville, including the last six as Director of Academic Services with the men’s basketball program.
“I’m excited to put together a support staff that will be one of the hardest working in the country,” added Keatts. “This group has a wealth of experience and will be a cohesive unit that will mold, guide, and mentor our student-athletes at NC State.”
In six years as head coach of the Hargrave postgraduate team, Hamilton put together a 236-26 (.901) record and led the 2015-16 team to the national championship with a 47-1 record.
In the 2015-16 season, Hamilton’s Tigers set the school record for wins (47) en route to capturing the school’s third national championship. All 16 players on the roster signed full NCAA basketball scholarships.
During Hamilton’s tenure, Hargrave produced over 100 Division-I players and nine NBA players. In the 2015 NBA draft, two of Hamilton’s players (Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell) were selected. Hamilton’s teams averaged 39 wins per season and he reached 100 wins during this third year at the helm. Hamilton was honored with the National Coach of the Year award twice (2012 and 2016), Regional Coach of the Year twice (2014 and 2015) and was selected as a coach for the oldest high school all-star game in the country, the Derby Festival Classic in 2013 and 2015.
Hamilton had a decorated high school career in his hometown of Georgetown, Ky., leading Scott County High School to the 1998 state championship and in 1999 led his high school to its highest national ranking (fourth) in school history. Hamilton closed his high school career by playing in the prestigious Indiana-Kentucky All-Star game and was inducted to the Scott Count High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
He graduated Scott County in 1999 and joined Keatts’ Hargrave program for a post-graduate year. He served as team captain on the 1999-2000 team that featured 12 players that would sign Division-I scholarships. Hamilton still holds the school record for assists and also led the team in steals as Hargrave went 24-2 and finished the season ranked second in the nation.
Hamilton began his college career at Wake Forest. As a freshman, he appeared in 19 games, averaging 6.4 minutes and 1.7 points per game. He played in four games as a sophomore before transferring midseason to Marshall. At Marshall, Hamilton served as team captain from 2002-2005 and led the team in assists, steals and minutes played during his career with the Thundering Herd. He won the 2005 team MVP award and ranks in the top-10 all-time in assists and top-20 all-time in steals.
Hamilton and his wife, Chelsea, have two daughters, Andi and Charleigh.
Thomas Carr, Director of Basketball Operations – Carr comes to NC State after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach on Keatts’ staff at UNC-Wilmington. In his three seasons on staff at UNC-Wilmington, the Seahawks complied a 72-28 record and won three regular season Colonial Athletic Association titles. The Toledo, Ohio, native joined the coaching staff at UNCW in the summer of 2014 following one season as an assistant at East Tennessee State. Carr helped the Bucs compile a 19-16 record in the 2013-14 season and advance to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Prior to joining the Division I coaching ranks, Carr was an assistant coach at junior college Chipola College, prep school Hargrave Military Academy and a head coach at George Washington High School in Danville, Va. After graduating high school in 2003, Carr played for Keatts at Hargrave and helped lead the Tigers to the 2003-04 Prep School National Championship. He left Hargrave and attended Pfeiffer University where he finished second in the nation in three-point field goals made during his senior year as team captain. Carr began his coaching career at Chipola College where he was the recruiting coordinator, academic advisor and strength and conditioning coach before heading back to Hargrave in 2010-11. At Hargrave, Carr was an assistant coach for one season as the Tigers carved out a sparkling 26-1 record. After a successful season at Hargrave, Carr accepted the head coaching position at George Washington High School. The Eagles went 25-3 in 2011-12 and led the state of Virginia in scoring with 88.0 points per game and finished ranked 15th in the AAA classification.
Anthony Wright, Director of Player Personnel – Wright joins the NC State basketball staff after an eight-year stint at the University of Louisville. Keatts was an assistant coach for Louisville for three seasons from 2011-14 and worked with Wright during that span. During his final six seasons at Louisville, Wright oversaw the academic support for the Cardinals’ men’s basketball team as Director of Academic Services. Wright helped guide the Cardinals to earning nearly a 3.0 GPA for six straight semesters and the Cardinals won the 2010-11 BIG EAST Team Academic Excellence Award in posting the highest collective GPA among men’s basketball teams. A native of Scotch Plains, N.J., Wright previously worked with the men’s basketball teams at Arizona (2001-04) and Iowa State (2004). Wright was a two-time All-American wide receiver at Maine. He holds school records in single season receptions (88), yards (1,169) and catches in a game (17). He is the only receiver in Maine history to have two back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons. Wright earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Maine in 1999. He earned a master’s degree in Special Education from Louisville in 2008.
Travis Hackert, Director of Scouting/Quality Control – Hackert joins the NC State basketball staff after spending the last three seasons on the basketball staff at UNC-Wilmington. Hackert initially joined the Seahawks as the program’s video coordinator for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Last season, Hackert was the Director of Operations for UNCW. A native of Ludington, Mich., Hackert was a student manager at the University of Louisville from 2010-14 and was the head manager for the 2013-14 season. He was responsible for filming and editing Cardinal practices and games, along with editing game film for opponent scouting. During Hackert’s time at Louisville, the Cardinals made four NCAA appearances, won three conference tournament titles, appeared in two Final Fours, and won the NCAA National Championship in 2013. Hackert earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Louisville in May of 2014. Hackert and his wife, Ali, have one son, Grady.
Pat Murphy, Head Men’s Basketball Strength & Conditioning Coach – Murphy comes to NC State after working at UNC-Wilmington for 13 years. The former UNCW baseball player spent three years as an aide in the strength and conditioning program before being promoted to Head Strength & Conditioning Coach in September of 2007. The native of Goldsboro, N.C, moved into the strength and conditioning field after graduation and became a C.S.C.S. through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). During his time at UNCW, Murphy oversaw the strength, speed, agility, power, balance and conditioning for all 19 Varsity sports. Murphy designed and implemented year-round, sport specific training plans to pave the road to each student-athlete’s individual training goals and successes. In Murphy’s time with the program, Seahawk Strength sponsored 10 NSCA All-Americans and UNCW won 32 conference championships. Murphy was a catcher for UNCW’s baseball team and helped the Seahawks win the 2004 Colonial Athletic Association championship and reach back-to-back NCAA Regionals in 2003 and 2004. He appeared in 101 games during his four-year career with the Seahawks from 2001-04. Murphy earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing from UNCW’s Cameron School of Business in 2004. Murphy and his wife, Brittany, have a daughter, Carmon.
Hunter Henderson, Director of Multimedia Services/Men’s Basketball – Henderson returns to NC State after spending last year at UNC-Wilmington as the men’s basketball video coordinator. Henderson was a student manager for three years with the Wolfpack and was promoted to head manager in May of 2015. He worked as the Pack’s assistant video coordinator in 2015-16, assisting the Wolfpack coaching staff with video for scouting opponents. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Coastal Christian while attending Cape Fear Community College before transferring to NC State. Henderson graduated from NC State in May of 2016 with a degree in Sport Management.
