Player: Vern Hamilton
Ht: 5-11
Wt: 175
Hometown: Richmond, VA
School: Benedictine High School
Class: 2003
A lot of folks in the Commonwealth of Virginia have been raving about Vern Hamilton for a long time. The University of Virginia Cavaliers reportedly offered Hamilton after his sophomore year. Some observers have even suggested Hamilton is perhaps the best point guard in the entire East.
While Hamilton has shown flashes of talent during the games at the Adidas ABCD Basketball Camp this week, he must, however, become more of an outside threat to be truly effective on the high-major level. A former teammate of future Mountaineer Patrick Beilein, Hamilton has demonstrated good quickness and hops, strong ball-handling skills, great vision and is a true point guard in the sense that he looks to direct the offense, penetrate and dish to teammates.
Hamilton showed a willingness to play tough, hard-nosed defense and will mix it up for all loose balls.
There is little doubt that Hamilton is a one of the names at the top of WVU’s “most wanted” list. To emphasize that point, both head coach John Beilein and assistant coach Jeff Neubauer were in the stands Wednesday afternoon to watch Hamilton perform.
“I’m hearing from Georgia, Georgia Tech, NC State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and West Virginia as well as others," Hamilton said. "Almost all the schools have made offers. I’m open right now. I plan to gather all the information I can on the schools and take my time to decide.”
“I really don’t have any conference preference as to where I play. I’m looking for a school where I can fit in and is a good academic situation for me.”
Hamilton, who says he will probably sign during the early period, will head to Morgantown with his AAU Squires (VA) team next weekend to compete in the Charlie Weber Tournament.
Camp Notes:
All of the heavy hitters arrived today in Hackensack from the NIKE Camp in Indianapolis. Included among the new arrivals were WVU head coach John Beilein, Bobby Huggins, Mike Krzyzewski, Steve Lavin and Roy Williams.
Stephon Marbury, Tim Thomas, Tracy McGrady, Bernard King are just some of the current and former NBA stars that have taken in some of the action.