Talking With The Newest UConn Husky
by 3uconn
Daniel Hamilton verbally committed to UConn late Friday night and I had a chance to talk with him about his official visit and his commitment today. Hamilton is a 6’8″ 178 lbs versatile player. He can play at the point guard, shooting guard, and small forward. Many people have been raving about how he has improved within the past year. He is now a very solid player with no major holes in his games that can hit the three, drive and finish down low, and the best part about his game is from mid-range. He is lethal from there.
Daniel sees himself as a tall guard who can “guard little guards.” This is a must as we have seen how much of a havoc a couple little guards can cause. See: Napier and Boatright this past season.
During this currentAAU season Daniel said he is “working on the point guard spot.” After that I asked him what position he wants to play when he is here. He responded, “Combo guard the 2/1”. He isn’t expecting to only play those positions as he told me he will play wherever coach wants him to. Many expect him to play shooting guard or small forward.
When asked what was a major factor in his commitment he said, “The relationship with Coach Ollie. I was playing pick-up with the guys and they wer teaching me new stuff as we wer playing.”
Since his commitment, Daniel has told everyone that he loves Ollie as a person and a coach. When I asked him what specifically he liked about Ollie he responded by saying, “Personality, [that he’s] young and I can relate to him.”
Those reasons could be keys to getting other players to attend college at UConn as well. Ollie is able to relate to the recruits and everything that they are going through since he’s also gone through it as well. Recruiting has evolved since then but it will always essentially be a coach trying to get you to play for him.
Daniel also told me how he expects to fit in with all aspects of the UConn program.
“I see myself fitting in good because when I went out there it was just a good environment and they treated me like family”, he said.
That is something coach Ollie has been emphasizing since becoming the head coach. He wants the team and coaching staff to be one extended family. Everyone knows his famous line of ten toes in. Many players like this because they spend a major amount of time with each other. They room together, have classes together, practice and play together, and hang out together. Having great team chemistry is a must to have a team playing its best.
We then talked a little about his official visit he went on the during the first weekend of May. He has told other reporters he really enjoyed playing with the current team. As I said earlier he liked how they showed him new things to work on to help him evolve his game further before he arrives at UConn. When asked about what else he liked during the visit he said, “It was a lot [of things]. The main thing is when I went to Coach Ollie’s house and we just start talking about how I can fit in.”
Everyone seems to always like Coach Ollie as a person so we can see why Daniel liked that part of his visit.
Look for Daniel Hamilton to continue to have a very good summer with his current AAU team, ICP Elite. He is continuing to solidify himself as an elite prospect in the class of 2014. Kevin Ollie’s first commitment in 2014 is Daniel Hamilton, and he’s a good one.
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