"A New Era of Husky Basketball"
Jason Hamilton
Color Analyst University of Washington Sports Network
Scribe: Neil Bretvick Introduced by: Bob Holert
Speaker program
Bob Holert introduced our speaker, Jason Hamilton. Jason was here to talk about Husky Men’s Basketball. Jason has been a color analyst for Bob Rondeau for years.
Jason gave a nod to the students who spoke today and their leadership demonstration. He mentioned the difficult season for the Huskies men, and the transition to a new coach, Mike Hopkins. He mentioned the work Lorenzo Romar made over the past 15 years, and Jason’s current career started about the same time, and he’s covered the games ever since.
UW had one of the best recruiting classes in the country coming in prior to the firing of coach Romar. Jason and others had expected him to return, given his contract and incoming class.
Jason called Mike Hopkins a tireless worker, who will bring needed energy to the program. Hopkins retained Will Conroy as an assistant coach, and mentioned the additional hires will be interesting to see.
How will an east coast coach recruit in Washington? Jason feels he will need to bring in some western assistant coaches to help in the effort.
Any discussion of eliminating the one and done issue? Not likely, though Jason thinks kids should stay at least 2 years.
NCAA tournament – who will win? He thinks Kansas will win it.
Kansas has fewer one and done players; Kentucky and Duke are the opposite. What is the future of this type of program? Jason doesn’t think it is sustainable versus growing the team.
What type of style will UW expect? 2-3 zone at Syracuse; Mike Hopkins wants to control the tempo of the game.
Should college athletes be paid? Jason mentioned the value of education received by these athletes. Scholarships often aren’t sufficient; athletes generally cannot work during school. He thinks a possible increase in the scholarship payment may be needed.
Coach Romar’s greatest accomplishment? Being the same person every day, one with great character. He’s genuine, cares about his student athletes.
What is outlook for women’s team at UW? Coach Neighbors has done a great job, and the top players have performed better than expected.
Salary pool for assistant coaches – Who is included? 3 assistants; advanced analytics person; strength coach, etc.
Club business
Inspirational thought: Curtis Cummings
Guests: Dan Sullivan
Program-Tanya Franzen-Garrett introduced student of the month – Bresh Merino
Bresh belongs to a poetry slam club. She works with children with autism since 2014. She wants to work with kids needing speech therapy in her career. Slam poetry is performance poetry. They write and act out their poems. They often travel to do their performances.
Laura Cosacchi introduced young students involved with the Forest Ridge Interact Club. Four students stood up and discussed the work of their club. They educate students to have a social awareness. Faith Chamberlain is the club president. Franny Anunnobi is the VP in charge of communications. She explained her role. Rachel Qiu is the secretary/treasurer; her role is scheduling meetings and further communications. Matthew Zahler, the club advisor was also introduced. There are about 40 members committed to service locally and globally, an upcoming project is the all in for autism run. They provide water for runners and participate in the run. Teen Feed is another project. It is a teen shelter. They are involved in Hearts and Hammers, to help seniors and others with accessibility issues with chores. They have also participated in Rotary First Harvest. Matthew spoke about his role and the efforts of their club. The work of these students is an inspiration to us all!
Laura Cosacchi showed a video in support of the upcoming adoption party. The video showed scenes from past events, and commentary by BBRC members.
Chuck Barnes spoke about Jim Owen’s recent passing and thank you from Katie, his widow. She encouraged donations in Jim’s memory to the Rotary Foundation. Friday April 21 at Glendale there will be a time of remembrance. Members and spouses will be invited. Chuck Barnes needs a head count, so please RSVP to him. A club announcement will be forthcoming. His obituary should appear Sunday in the Seattle times.
Kaj Pedersen announced details of the run. Posters are available, please distribute them.
There will be a District function on April 5. Announcement to be put on the website.
About the Speaker
In his final playing season, he guided Washington into the 1996 National Invitation Tournament, the school's first postseason berth since 1987. The UW played in the NIT again in 1997 during his first coaching campaign.
In 1998, Hamilton helped coach Washington into the NCAA Tournament, it's first NCAA berth since 1986. The Huskies advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1984. The UW earned another NCAA berth in 1999.
Hamilton concluded a brilliant career in 1996 by leading the Pacific-10 Conference in steals with 59, an average of 2.1 per game. He dished out 103 assists in 1996, becoming the third player in Husky history to top the 100-assist plateau in consecutive seasons. His 123-assist outtput in 1995 ranks sixth highest on the Washington single-season list.
A 1992 graduate of Hazen (Wash.) High School, Hamilton earned first-team all-state honors and was MVP of the Seamount League as a senior. After averaging 19.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 5.4 steals his final prep campaign, he was named to the USA Today honorable mention All-America squad.
Hamilton initially played at San Diego State where he was voted the 1993 Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. He led the WAC in 3-point shooting (50%) and steals (2.1 per game) while averaging 8.4 points and 3.7 assists for the Aztecs.
After playing seven games in 1994, Hamilton transferred to Washington where he sat out the remainder of the 1994 season and the first part of the 1995 campaign. He registered a school single-game record nine steals at Eastern Washington in 1996 and led the team in 3-point shooting (47 percent).
Jason, away from the sports world, is a Vice President with Marsh Insurance, focused on risk management solutions for construction, real estate, professional services, retail and hospitality. Marsh is a global leader in insurance brokerage and risk management.