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Clearly, this was a man, a moment and a program ideally suited to one another. Hamilton wanted to be in college basketball's fast lane and with a visable school. Hall, on the other hand, faced the unenviable task of trying to keep the Wildcat basketball torch lit while integrating the program. He d had some success recruiting instate black players, but in order to keep Kentucky among the national powers (a demand not a hope in Lexington J he knew the nation had to be his territory.
Hamilton's task was simply to seek and deliver great players, white or black. How did he fare in the course of his years at UK?
Well, if you consider names like Walker, Bowie, Turpin, Robey, Phillips, Macy, Bennett, Davender, Lee, Claytor and Givens important recruiting notches, then you'd probably be inclined to say his report card was a strong one.
Leonard Hamilton didn't just want to recruit, he had to . . .
ALONG THE KENTUCKY trail, Hamilton's name was occasionally mentioned in connection with a vacant head coaching position. Only once, though, was he seriously in the hunt, eventually losing out to Tony Yates at Cincinnati.
There were some other possibles, but it wasn't a match.
"Leonard was very selective," Kelly said. "I told him to take a job, get started as a head coach and then move up, but he didn't want to do it that way."
It was a frustration and some close to Hamilton foresaw a day coming when he would walk away from basketball to concentrate on his business concerns in the Lexington area. Hamilton concedes he was discouraged at times about what the future in the sport held for him, but never did he seriously consider a career change.
"As an assistant you go through peaks and valleys on that," he says. "So there were some times when it bothered me, but I always felt I'd be a head coach. Deep down I knew it would happen.
"I think the big thing that happened was I grew and matured. I really think the frustration I had was because of my own immaturity in not knowing what I should be looking for in a job. Once I began to understand that and gained some patience, I knew it was just a matter of time," he said.
HALL'S DECISION to quit at Kentucky last year presented Hamilton with a final twist on the road which eventually led here. If there was a mile post when he might have fulfilled the predictions of those who said he'd leave basketball, this could have been it.
He was not a serious candidate for the Wildcat job, nor did he run strongly for any of the other 52 coaching vacancies around the country. And with Sutton coming along, undoubtedly things would be different for Hamilton at Kentucky.
But he chose to accept Sutton's offer, evidence , he says, of a newfound understanding of the system, how it works and what path he was taking
toward an ultimate goal of becoming a head coach.
There was speculation around Kentucky (a category which this school dominates annually) that Hamilton was part of Sutton's gift wrapped coaching package, a notion both men dismiss. More speculation had it the two strong-willed men didn't particularly get along and that Sutton worked diligently to get Hamilton the job at OSU just to get rid of him.
"Leonard and I had no problems," Sutton said. "He can take direction. He did take direction."
"There was no problem," Hamilton says, "because I stepped back. That's what assistant coaches are supposed to do."
And, look at it this way: Even if Sutton did want to dump Hamilton would he send someone he didn't like to coach at his alma mater? Family ties between the Suttons and OSU are very strong, so his involvment in the " Hamilton to Stillwater" story will long be recalled.
Whatever happens.
Leonard Hamilton answered just about every question on Myron Roderick's list. He was a proven national recruiter. He had style. He'd be an interesting media subject in a state where Billy Tubbs has been grabbing the tallest headlines in recent years. And he came at a more affordable price than the experienced head coach who said he'd visit if the package started at $250,000 per year.
Nowhere in Roderick's equation was bench coaching, the traditional stumbling block for assistants, mentioned.
"To compete in college athletics today X's and O's are about the least important thing," he said. "It's selling, recruiting and public relations. How you handle kids. Those things.
"After we made the decision on Paul I called 10 of the top coaches in the country and told them what I wanted," he said. "Leonard Hamilton was on every list.
"See, when people talk basketball here they talk about Mr. Iba, but they need to be talking about someone else too. We've got fans who don't even remember when he coached. What we want is a good, solid program that can compete. The Final Four isn't a goal for us. Being competitive in the Big Eight and selling out our building is what we're thinking about.
"We've made a commitment to Leonard and we're gonna do it right," he said.
THE GOOD NEWS for the 37-year old Hamilton is that on March 11th Oklahoma State University offered him a four-year contract to be its basketball coach. The administration also pledged to speed plans for a major renovation of Gallagher Hall (which saw its first tipoff in 1939), plus include a wing for his team in a soon-to-be remodled dormitory. No longer did OSU just want to be along for the ride.
The bad news was that if the season opened that day, it's unlikely there would have been enough players to play a game. Four departed because of
LEONARD HAMILTON AND EDDIE SUTTON
___Upfront
expired eligibility and all but two others were academic casualties. Hamilton needed to do what he does best and do it rather quickly.
"I was in a panic," he says. "Scared to death."
The morning after accepting the position, Hamilton visited all four major high schools in Tulsa. Later in the week he attended the state high school tournament there, all the while gathering names.
Remarkably, within a week he had secured visits from three of Oklahoma's top schoolboy players, Chris Gaffney from Tulsa, William Wood from Midwest Citv and Rovce Jeffries from Grant.
Even more remarkably within 10 days all three were saving no to other Oklahoma schools and yes to OSU.
At the same time he was on the phone daily to his various contacts across the country. That network helped him get a visit from 6-3 Keith Malone, 5 -A Player of the Year from Los Angeles. Soon he was in the fold.
A few days later enroute to the National JUCO tournament in Hutchinson, Hamilton noticed the name of 5-9 Derrick Davis on the roster for the Capital Classic in Washington. Under the category of college, Davis was listed as "unsigned."
Hamilton knew the young man's high school coach and the familiar pattern was started. Phone call. Visit. Signature.
The last name on this three week recruiting binge was 6-6 Todd Christian from Independence JC via Newton, KS. Christian, who was on Kansas' shopping list for awhile, and was still being courted by Oklahoma and Oral Roberts even at this late date, previously came under Hamilton's watchful eye while "he was recruiting for Kentucky.
You guessed it. Phone call. Visit. Signature.
Add these six to a pair of JUCOs who committed to Hansen last fall, plus some holdovers still battling it out in classroom and 7-4 sophomore Alan Bannister ("He's ahead of Greg Dreiling at similar points in their career," says Hamilton) and obviously the Cowboys will at least be able to post for next November's opener.
NOW, IT'S NOT really possible to project how good all these newcomers might be or if, in fact, they'll all show.up (SAT is a fact of life, friends), but the point is that Hamilton delivered what OSU needed; instaht hope for the future.
That he'd get players wasn't really a question. That he'd find them so quickly and under these circumstances probably surprised even him.
It buys a little breathing room. And even if the long summer of personal anxiety ("I wish we could start practice today," he says) isn't eased much, there should be some consolation for Hamilton knowing people can't wait to see what he'll be able to do with a whole year to recruit instead of three weeks.
The tempo has been set.
"I think Oklahoma State is the perfect job for me," he said. "I think I could be happy here for a long time. They are very hungry for success and yet I don't feel any pressure from anyone except myself."
One interesting move was his decision to keep Weldon Drew on the staff (a former head coach at New Mexico State) and to hire Glen Korobov. ex-head coach at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. That speaks volumes about self confidence.
HAMILTON SAYS recruiting will be different here, that he'll need to do more evaluating than he did while at Kentucky.
"The kids I recruited for Kentucky were ones we were pretty sure could step in and play," he said. "Here I think we'll have to knock on more doors and look under more rocks. All I want is an opportunity to discuss my program. I want to tell them how we're going to get there and be among the great programs in the country.
" I also believe, with my background, once we get there, we'll stay there. The key is getting there," he said.
Somehow, you have to think that's the same sort of story Rodney Parker heard from a brash, young Austin Peay assistant coach those many years ago. And we all know where Rodney sent the Fly.