A. W. Hamilton

Archibald William "A. W." Hamilton (born October 15, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the head men's basketball coach at Eastern Kentucky University, a position he has held since 2018. Hamilton served as the head basketball coach at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia from 2011 to 2017. Born in Georgetown, Kentucky, he played at the college basketball for Wake Forest and Marshall, where he graduated in 2005.

Hamilton starred at Scott County High School under coach Billy Hicks from 1996 to 1999, earning four varsity letters. He helped lead the Cardinals to the 1998 Kentucky State Basketball Championship before helping guide them to a state runner-up finish in 1999. Hamilton was named 1st team Kentucky All-State in 1999 as well as Kentucky's 8th Region Co-Player of the Year.

Following his career at Scott County, Hamilton played a postgraduate year at Hargrave Military Academy, beginning a relationship with head coach Kevin Keatts. Hamilton averaged 17.9 points, 9.6 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game for Hargrave before signing a full basketball scholarship with Wake Forest.

Hamilton appeared in 19 games for the Demon Deacons in the 2000–01 season, and 4 games in the 2001–02 season before transferring to Marshall for the 2002–03 season. Hamilton went on to play 82 games for the Thundering Herd between 2002 and 2005, starting 81 of them. He averaged 33.9 minutes per game, 8.4 points per game, 5.0 assists per game and 1.3 steals per game during his Marshall Career. Hamilton's name is littered throughout the Marshall All-Time record book, as he currently ranks 10th all-time in career assists (411), 13th in career 3pt% (38.6%), 21st in career steals (107) and 31st in career 3pt field goals made (83). Hamilton led Marshall in assists and steals each season he played for the Thundering Herd.

On September 4, 2015, Hamilton was inducted to the Scott County Sports Hall-of-Fame.

Following graduation from Marshall in 2005, Hamilton joined the Marshall staff as a graduate assistant.

In the 2006–07 season, Hamilton returned to Hargrave Military Academy to serve as an assistant coach on Kevin Keatts' staff. Hamilton was promoted to head coach at Hargrave when Keatts departed for an assistant coach position at Louisville in 2011.

Hamilton had a remarkable run of success as head coach at Hargrave from 2011 to 2017. He totaled 237 wins against just 22 losses and sent 63 of his players on to the NCAA Division I level, with 25 more continuing on to the NCAA Division II level. He coached two players that were drafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, Terry Rozier, #16 to the Boston Celtics, and Montrezl Harrell, #32 to the Houston Rockets. Hargrave was named the Program of the Decade in 2012. Hamilton was named National Prep Coach of the Year twice (2012,2016) and captured the 2016 National Prep Championship in a season where his team went 47-1. Hamilton was also named East Region Coach of the Year three times (2014,2015,2017) and reached the national Elite Eight every season he coached, including three appearances in the Final Four.

Hamilton was inducted to the Hargrave Postgraduate Basketball Hall-of-Fame just months after accepting his position at NC State. In his lone year with the Wolfpack, N.C. State finished 5th in the ACC and was an at-large selection for the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

Hamilton was announced as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky on March 23, 2018.