WORK PAYS OFF
ZACHARY HAMILTON TAKES WINDING ROAD TO PLAYING A KEY ROLE FOR PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
Well-traveled Zachary Hamilton thrives at Prairie View A&M.
Persistence pays off. Senior forward Zachary Hamilton didn’t have any college offers coming out of Westbury Christian, so he walked on at Prairie View A&M, finally earned a scholarship last year, and now he’s one of the top 3-point shooters in the Southwest Athletic Conference, leading the league in 3s made this season.
“Zach was one of those guys, a la Jimmy Butler, who came through the greater Houston area, and didn’t have a lot of takers coming out of high school, but he’s a very bright young man,” coach Byron Smith said.
“You hear these coaches rant and rave about their players all the time, and how this kid is all that’s good with college basketball, and Zach falls into that category.”
He’s sharp in the classroom, where’s he’s majoring in mechanical engineering, and on the court, where he’s hit 68 3-pointers — 26 more than the next guy — while ranking second in 3-point percentage (.405).
With Hamilton leading the way, the Panthers (8-15, 5-4) pace the SWAC in field-goal percentage (.432) and 3-point FG percentage (.349), while ranking second in scoring (73.9), only to Texas Southern.
But that’s only one of his motivations for playing at a high level every time out.
“I don’t want to be remembered as a guy who scored points,” Hamilton said. “I want to be remembered as a guy who changed the program, had a great outlook on it, and got everything he wanted out of it.”
Traveling man
Not bad for a guy nobody wanted.
The Missouri City native spent one year at Elkins before opting to transfer to Westbury Christian to escape the shadow of his older brother, Jonathan Hamilton, who went on to play one year at Texas Lutheran.
“I wanted to do something different,” Hamilton said.
“I was the little brother on campus, and everybody knew my brother and nobody knew me. I wanted to build a name for myself, however difficult that could have been … and I did it at Prairie View.” But first he had to get there. Looking back, Hamilton says his decision to transfer may not have helped him attract recruiters, but he learned the fundamentals and grew as a person and player, which gave him the resolve he needed to prove himself at Prairie View after walking on under former coach Byron Rimm II.
“It was difficult trying to walk on at Prairie View, kind of like going to get a job without a résumé,” Hamilton said. “You’re going on your own … and I had to learn real quick about the program and how college basketball works.”
After Smith, previously an assistant at Prairie View, stepped in for Rimm in 2016, he quickly realized he needed Hamilton leading his first backcourt — and that Hamilton had earned a scholarship.
“When he offered me a scholarship, it was more of a sigh of relief,” Hamilton said. “I wanted to be part of his program.”
Improving his game
Hamilton averaged 15.1 points per game, which was fifth in the SWAC, in his first season on scholarship, while shooting 40 percent from 3 and 82.9 from the free-throw line, but the Panthers lost in the first round of the SWAC tournament, leaving him believing he should have done more.
“I put up some good numbers, but it felt empty after the season because I didn’t feel like I made the winning plays last season,” he said. “I scored, but I didn’t make the plays that get us over the hump.”
So he redoubled his efforts in the offseason, focusing on improving his mind and body.
Now he’s averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting 40.5 percent from beyond the arc, averaging 3.0 made 3s per game, despite drawing more attention from defenses as Prairie View’s go-to player.
“He’s a multi-dimensional kind of guy,” Smith said. “He’s learned how to play around the basket. He’s deceptively athletic, he’s got big hands, so he can really rebound the ball, (and) he’s stronger than he looks. He has a slight frame but he’s strong, so he can manufacture some points in the post.
“He’s become a complete basketball player.”
But he’s still a 3-point marksman by trade.
Hamilton said his consistency isn’t about form or technique, but his determination to make the most of his ability.
“It’s not really skill,” he said. “It’s just confidence.
“Not everybody can shoot like Steph Curry, and walk into a gym and hit 20 in a row, 30 in a row, so you have to have confidence and believe every shot you shoot is going in.”
Big game looms
That’s the goal every game, but especially this weekend in a pivotal rematch with the rival Tigers.
Prairie View fell 100-94 on Jan. 6 at TSU — it trailed by 28 points with 6:04 left — but this one’s at home, where it’s 4-1, and it’s riding a three-game winning streak after beating Alabama A&M 88-67 on Monday.
“We have to duplicate that performance, not necessarily in terms of points but in terms of effort, and how we guarded defensively,” Hamilton said. “Texas Southern is playing well, but we’re playing good basketball, too.
“And it’s important that we protect home.”