Vernon Hamilton: "It's A Lot To Be Excited About"
NC State assistant coach Vernon Hamilton sat down with the media this week to discuss his role with the Wolfpack, the current team, and much more.
NOTE: Click the clip above to listen to the audio with Hamilton.
What's this transition been like?
It's been awesome. Everyone here has been unbelievable with just their support and welcoming us, you here to Raleigh, and like you said, it's been super exciting for me.
Obviously, I get back to the ACC. That’s always something I knew I wanted to do, I know how special the conference is... being back close to home, being back in the ACC, I've been thrilled about it.
What got you to thinking coaching was going to be your long-term deal?
I think it just kind of comes from being a former player and being a point guard and, just, I was able to read the game. Some things came to me naturally that I thought, like, hey, you know, and then, you, obviously, once I was towards the back-end of my career, those who can't do, teach, right?
For this team, maybe on each team, you've got different roles. Have they really assigned what you are looking to do specifically with this team this year?
Yeah, I think it just comes from my history with Coach.
He’s given me the freedom to mentor, being a former player, being able to have that player-coach relationship with them, but both on and off the court, he expects me to be pretty involved with what they have going on daily.
Obviously, I was able to have a pretty good career as a defender, anything that he thinks on-the-ball that I can teach... how aggressive you want to be, those are my areas.
Do you specificy on guards or bigs... or all positions?
All of them.
When I was with coach at LSU, I was fortunate to have back-to-back first round picks in Cam Thomas and Tari Eason, guys who I worked very closely with.
I just think one of my biggest strengths is just my ability to be able to relate to them and help them find the results they're looking for.
What stands out to you most about Coach Wade?
I think just his passion.
A lot of coaches, they tend to kind of take a back seat and they try to adapt the transfer portal but with coach Wade, he’s been like, “Hey, this is who I am, this is what I do. I’ve won everywhere I’ve been and I’m going to continue to win.”
That’s what I love about him.
How do you feel about what you guys have on the roster this year?
Well, we're pretty talented.
It’s a lot to be excited about. I'm surprised at how far along we are already, especially to be two weeks into our workouts, to already have kind of found a way to kind of put guys in a position to be successful, see what they can do.
So it should be special.
Were you able to do this much when you were a player, or is this all new?
No, it's super new.
In the summer you just played pickup and you had a couple days out the week where you got with your coaches, I did a little bit of skill development,.
It's a totally different landscape now from a nutritionist to a strength and conditioning coach to a director of sports performance, there are so many pillars to where you have access to someone who can help us.
What do you think of the area so far?
It's beautiful.
I've had a chance to kind of like just to ride around Raleigh and you see some of the different areas. I did decide to rent, but I didn't do a full-year lease because I figured pretty fast I’d find a place to live.
How do you view the ACC now coming back into it as a coach?
I think the pace of it and I think the talent that's come to it now is, you’re back up to par with the way the league was when I left.
I think that having certain coaches like Coach Wade come to the league, he's going to bring a different style of play. He's going to bring in some talent and highly-talented kids. That’s what you look for in recruiting, you look at conferences overall, who is there, who is playing. I think when we get a couple of guys to the NBA it will help jump-start it.