Did DHam have an unforgettable, forgettable or underachieved career?

[ctchamps]

Hopefully this thread will derail like every other thread resulting in information about Durham and not DHam!

 

[boog204]

I'd argue "underachieved." First of all, I don't if we've ever had a guy with his skill-set. (Caron was a good passer but not a facilitator like DHam.) He was a point forward and outstanding rebounder who could give you a consistent 12 a game. There were moments when you thought he could essentially be OSU Evan Turner or Denzell Valentine. But then he would get caught in these weird traps. For all of the good that he did (and he did plenty, let's not fool ourselves) he also was prone to making the exact same mistakes over and over and over again. The mindless spins/behind the backs in the lane with no intention to shoot, the over-reliance on the alley-oop, at times horrific shot-selection, ball-stopping tendencies, and a total lack of interest in playing any defense.

It's interesting to think about what one more year would have provided. He did improve frosh to soph, but not all that much. The same "warts" in his game were still there. The handle, shooting, and lack of athleticism still held him back at times. I will never say that we are going to better without him, but we are going to be "different." And sometimes different can be, in fact, better.

 

[KembaStepback]

This is a tough question. First, I'd ask people who they categorize as "unforgettable". Just to guage where people are at.

Secondly...I don't think I'd say forgettable or underachieved. The kid averaged 12.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.1 steals and shot 86% from the FT line. That is a VERY solid season. He struggled from 3. His season wasn't for nothing either...he also was AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player (or whatever the equivalent award is) and the Huskies won it.

So while I wouldn't quite put him in the unforgettable category, he isn't forgettable or and underachiever.

 

[Matrim55]

Because we lacked a pure PG until the very end of the season when the light switch flipped on for Jalen, DHam was miscast as a No. 1 offensive option -- both in terms of scoring and initiating the offense. He was not yet ready to handle that much of a load, and it took a particular toll on him during the dozen games Brimah was out. His numbers and inefficiencies were grating, but he literally had to play like that, or else we'd have been reduced to Gibbs taking pull-up 3s or Purvis getting stuffed at the rim every possession.

Even with all of that, he was our most complete player, and the bridge between "UConn under heavy sanctions and possibly heading down a five-year rabbit hole of mediocrity" and "UConn rising back into national prominence on a yearly basis" both as a recruit and as a player. We don't sniff the tournament without him last year, and we probably don't get big recruits like Jackson and Durham without landing Hamilton first. He will always be Ollie's most important recruit, because he's the one who proved we can still go head-to-head with the likes of UCLA for a borderline 5-star player and come out ahead.

Context matters. Put Hamilton in a situation where he doesn't have to be the best passer, best rebounder and best off-the-dribble scorer, and he'd be a UConn legend. Instead he was a victim of the program's circumstances, and didn't have the patience to wait one more year as things improve.

It's a shame, but it is what it is. Hope the kid makes it onto an NBA roster and proves the doubters wrong.

Anyway, I will not forget Daniel Hamilton. Without him committing to UConn an then sticking to it, I think we'd have been a complete garbage fire the last two seasons.

 

[Leebo]

We know at least one person will say "all of the above."

 

[UC313]

With all of his talents, underwhelming would be my word for him. We all saw his abilities, but all his abilities weren't always on show.

 

[Brochacho]

I'd classify it as unforgettable, especially for Ollie. When he had Boat and Bazz, he won 74.3% of his games. With D-Ham leading the charge, he won 64.3% of his games. As the recruitment of Jalen Adams and Alterique Gilbert suggests, KO realizes two dynamic PGs is the way to go.

 

[aceboon]

Pretty forgettable to me, I felt this way during the season and still feel it now when posters wax poetic about his game, but I'm always amazed at how far grabbing 9 boards and getting 4-5 assists gets you with a large portion of this fan base. The shooting and decision making was just too much of a bugaboo for me to put aside, easily one of the most frustrating players to watch in my 20+ years as a fan.

 

[krinklecut]

Forgettable. If people didn't talk about how good he was I wouldn't have thought he was all that good. Never hit his stride.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I hate these threads. He was a very good player, who gave his all and helped us win games. I wish him the very best. That is all.

 

[jibsey]

Unfulfilled. He really could have been one of our great players, in fact he was already great on rebounding and assists but he had to tighten up his shooting and reduce unforced errors. One more year could have done it. Ray Allen spent 3 years with us and it would have helped DHam to spend 1 more, IMO. He was on the cusp and I think his draft status would benefit next year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I hate these threads. He was a very good player, who gave his all and helped us win games. I wish him the very best. That is all.

Then don't participate. Some of us are here because we have a passion for UConn basketball and enjoy debating these questions, even when the answers sometimes cast one of our players in an unfavorable light.

Hamilton was a good, but not great player, who left before he had a chance to cement a legacy. Individual accolades and performance aside, I was more bothered by him saying "not many have accomplished what I did at UConn", when most of the fan base would consider the two 2 years he spent here as well beneath this program's standards.

Moreover, this wasn't coming from a guy who was going to be a lottery pick where you understand that it's his time to go. This is a guy who simply wasn't interested in playing college basketball and didn't care to build that legacy.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Very forgettable. He showed glimces of what he could have become, but needed another year or two (IMO) to refine and develop his potential. Not sure who made the worst decision to come out early D. Daniels or D. Ham. Both needed more time at UConn.

 

[Vancat]

I don't think I will forget him, but he was disappointing.

 

[mauconnfan]

Don't like any of the descriptions but not sure what it could be. Vacant probably said it best, "disappointing". So much more there and not much to leave on. Great rebounder form his position is about the most positive part of his game everything else turned out to be less than anticipated shall I say?

 

[djct1999]

I would say none of the above. The word that comes to mind is unfulfilled. DHam simply never fulfilled his potential here. Hard to say he underachieved statistically. If anyone thinks DHam was forgettable, try to imagine the last two years without him. That would be forgettable.

 

[Silk31]

The drama surrounding his commitment to us was more memorable than anything else (I still think he ultimately ends up at UCLA). I certainly liked him while he was here but he didn't necessarily leave a lasting imprint on the program.

Also his reaction to Purvis' post dunk flex vs SMU two years ago was very memorable at least IMO

 

[JimHurley]

He didn't have a bad career by any means but it was forgettable and underachieving.

 

[TasteofUConn]

I still think the "NBA Draft" thing is just a cover and he ends up at UCLA.

 

[ctchamps]

He didn't have a bad career by any means but it was forgettable and underachieving.

 

[Kitaman]

I think 5 years from now we won't be talking about him much at least in the context of reverence. But until then its obvious he was a contributor and a heck of a Husky player.

We were fortunate to have him in our transition to regaining our Conference Championship form.

 

[James]

I think a lot of the disappointment is that hamilton (and even purvis) never lived up to his top 25 consensus ranking as a prospect, many fans saw him as potentially a future all american and @ the bare minimum first round draft pick. He was neither of those, but he did put up some decent numbers. I mean, if adams doesn't drastically improve next season he should get the same level of shade thrown his direction. that goes for the staff as well

 

[Jerry1714]

You can say he underachieved if you expected him to be great (All American) by his sophomore year.

But he was unquestionably the best all around player on a team who won an NCAA tournament game. He was AAC rookie of the year and MVP of the AAC tournament.

In 20 years I probably won't remember much about him, or anything else for that matter, but his impact on the teams he played on was not forgettable.

 

[champs99and04]

He will leave a complicated legacy here. Save for three days in Orlando, this team hasn't done a lot of winning the last two years, by our standards. Some of the time, you didn't get the feeling that the team would have been much worse off without him.

But we also forget how hard college basketball is, even for the top ranked kids like Hamilton. Historically, guys aren't that good in college basketball as freshman and sophomores. This is statistically verified (somebody in this thread compared him to Denzel Valentine, go look at what Valentine did his first two years in college). In that respect, he surpassed - convincingly - the modest expectations of 95% of the UConn players that came before him. Difference is, he was caught in that no man's land, without the talent to join the 5% of UConn players who balled as sophomores but also without the love of the college basketball experience to stay around another year or two and become great.

The portrayal of Hamilton on this board would be diametrically different had he decided to return for his junior season; his play in the postseason would have represented the evolution from good to great, and many would have projected major individual accolades for him in the near future. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and as a result we're left to assess what should have been the infantry stages of greatness as his apex...and the only word you can really use is underwhelming. Perhaps flanked by a different roster, Hamilton would have emerged as the supreme talent that developed just in time to serve as the final piece of a final four team. That didn't happen, though, and so we'll remember him as much as the engineer of an offense that struggled to stay above water as we will an ultra-talented rebounder and facilitator who propped up some other pieces that maybe weren't up to the level we wanted them to be at.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Then don't participate. Some of us are here because we have a passion for UConn basketball and enjoy debating these questions, even when the answers sometimes cast one of our players in an unfavorable light.

Hamilton was a good, but not great player, who left before he had a chance to cement a legacy. Individual accolades and performance aside, I was more bothered by him saying "not many have accomplished what I did at UConn", when most of the fan base would consider the two 2 years he spent here as well beneath this program's standards.

Moreover, this wasn't coming from a guy who was going to be a lottery pick where you understand that it's his time to go. This is a guy who simply wasn't interested in playing college basketball and didn't care to build that legacy.

Did he really say that?

Well, technically he is right: Not many at UConn have have won the AAC tourney, and fewer still, have been named MOP.