Isaac Brandon Hamilton (born May 14, 1994)
is an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player for
Cherkaski Mavpy
BC Cherkaski Mavpy ( uk, баскетбольний клуб "Черкаські Мавпи", which means "Cherkasy Apes") is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that plays its home games in Cherkasy.
In the 2007 NBA Draft, Cherkaski Mavpy ...
of the
Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague
The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...
. He played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for the
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...
, earning second-team
all-conference honors in the
Pac-12 as a junior in 2015–16.
Hamilton grew up in the
Los Angeles area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Cou ...
, where he was among the top high school players. As a senior in 2013, he captured all-state honors in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, and was nationally recognized as a
McDonald's All-American
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...
. He originally signed a
National Letter of Intent (NLI) to attend the
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...
(UTEP), but decided to transfer to the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
(UCLA). Hamilton was required to sit out his freshman year after UTEP would not grant him a release from his commitment. He played his first year in college in 2014–15 as a sophomore with the Bruins, and he led the team in scoring as a junior. After going
undrafted
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
in the
2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
...
, he played two seasons with the
Canton Charge
The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland.
The fr ...
in the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...
.
Early life
Hamilton was born in Los Angeles to Greg and Karen Hamilton.
He attended his first two years of high school at
Crenshaw High School
Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls arou ...
in
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
.
He helped lead Crenshaw to the 2010 Coliseum League title in his freshman year.
[ He averaged 19.5 points per game as a sophomore, when he teamed with his younger brother Daniel, who averaged almost 10 points as a freshman. The following season, the brothers transferred to St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower. As a junior, Hamilton was voted third-team all-state by ''Cal-Hi Sports'' after averaging 24.3 points, 9.6 ]rebounds
'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...
, and 5.4 assists and leading his team to the SoCal Div. III Regional final.[ In his senior year, he averaged 22.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, and St. John Bosco captured a ]CIF Southern Section
The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...
Class 3A title, its first since 2003.[ He was named first-team all-state by ''Cal-Hi Sports'',] and was recognized nationally as a McDonald's All-American
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...
.[
Hamilton was rated by ]Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
as the No. 14 player overall in the country in the class of 2013, and ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
ranked him No. 25. Rivals had him as the No. 3 shooting guard, and Scout.com
Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...
listed him as No. 5.[
]
College career
In November 2012, Hamilton signed an NLI to play with the UTEP Miners
The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...
. However, he later requested a release, citing a desire to attend a school closer to home, preferably in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, to be with his grandmother, who was sick with a heart condition. His younger brother, Daniel chose to go to school at UCONN
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...
even though his grandmother was sick, causing many to speculate that Isaac's reasoning was false. However, UTEP coach Tim Floyd
Tim Floyd (born February 25, 1954) is a former American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He was formerly the head coach of several teams in the NCAA and the NBA. Floyd is also k ...
would not grant his release. One reason the coach cited was his belief that USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...
coach Andy Enfield had tampered with Hamilton. Even as a freshman, Hamilton was projected to be UTEP's best player. He appealed the case, but it was denied by the NLI appeals committee. Hamilton had since enrolled at UCLA. He lost a year of eligibility
Eligibility may refer to:
* The right to run for office (in elections), sometimes called ''passive suffrage'' or ''voting eligibility''
* Desirability as a marriage partner, as in the term ''eligible bachelor''
* Validity for participation, as in ...
and was not allowed to play for the Bruins until the following year as a sophomore. The rules permitted him to practice with the team, during which his play impressed coach Steve Alford
Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...
.
Eligible to play in 2014–15, Hamilton was expected to play a prominent role for the Bruins. Three of UCLA's top four scorers from the previous year had moved on to play professionally in the National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
(NBA). Given the team's limited depth at guard, the team was expected to be heavily dependent on their backcourt trio of Hamilton, senior Norman Powell
Norman WC Powell (born May 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Powell played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, where he was an all-conference ...
, and sophomore Bryce Alford—the coach's son. Although he had never been a point guard before, Hamilton was expected to become a combo guard
A combo guard is a basketball player who combines the attributes of a point guard (1) and shooting guard (2), but does not necessarily fit the standard description of either position. In men's basketball, such guards are usually within the 6' 3" ...
and be the team's No. 2 ballhandler behind Alford.[ He was rusty after not having played for 18 months, and had an up-and-down season.] On November 28, 2014, he scored a team-high 21 points at the Battle 4 Atlantis, helping UCLA salvage a win in the seventh-place game. Just a day earlier, he had missed all six of his shots and committed seven turnovers due to poor decisions and bad passes in a loss to North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
. Soon his ball-handling opportunities began to wane.[ Towards the middle of the season, Hamilton at times would again assume the point guard role for the Bruins, and Alford would shift to being a scorer. In February 2015, Hamilton enjoyed games of 16 points and nine assists against ]Oregon State
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...
, as well as 16 and 10 against Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. However, he was also limited to two points against Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
and four versus Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
.[ In the quarterfinals of the 2015 Pac-12 tournament, Hamilton made 13 of 17 field goal attempts to score a career-high 36 points in a 96–70 win over USC. His grandmother had died just four days earlier, but he decided to play as the Bruins were still fighting to qualify for the NCAA tournament. It was the most points scored by a Bruin in a decade, and was just the second time Hamilton had scored over 20 points that season.]
Hamilton opened 2015–16 as part of a three-guard lineup, with Alford and freshman Aaron Holiday
Aaron Shawn Holiday (born September 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The guard played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he earned All-American ...
sharing most of the point guard responsibilities. In December 2015, Hamilton had five consecutive games with eight or more field goals, the longest streak by a Bruin since Tracy Murray
Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations
Places United States
* Tracy, C ...
's six games in 1991. In February 2016, he became the first Bruin since Kevin Love
Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time NBA All-Star Game, All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA ...
in 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
to score in double figures for more than 20 straight games. Hamilton finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 16.8 points per game, which ranked third in the Pac-12.[ He earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors, the only player from UCLA named to the all-conference team.
As a senior in 2016–17, Hamilton was the top returning scorer in the Pac-12.] Still, he willingly deferred to star freshmen Lonzo Ball
Lonzo Anderson Ball (born October 27, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, he played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins, earn ...
and T. J. Leaf, and became the fourth leading scorer (14.1) on the highest-scoring team in the nation. Hamilton was a steady performer for UCLA as they began the season ranked No. 2 after a 13–0 start,[ the first time they were undefeated in non-conference play since they won a national championship in 1994–95. He was the team's leading scorer through 11 games, and averaged 16.8 points and reached double-figures in all non-conference games.] However, Hamilton's average fell to 11.4 points in Pac-12 games, when he shot just 31.2% on three-pointers.[ He scored in single figures eight times,][ including the first three games to start conference play. He scored just two points on 1-for-6 shooting in the conference opener against No. 21 Oregon, when the Bruins suffered their first defeat in an 89–87 loss. In the following game, he was held scoreless on 0-for-10 shooting in a 76–63 win over Oregon State.][ After a month-long shooting slump,][ during which he never divulged a pulled back muscle that required a doctor's visit, Hamilton made a UCLA record nine three-pointers against Arizona State to tie the mark held by Alford and ]Jason Kapono
Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...
.[ The Bruins won 102–80, and Hamilton finished with a season-high 33 points on 10-for-17 shooting.] He cooled off the following game, scoring 14 points on five-of-15 shooting in a 96–85 defeat to No. 14 Arizona for the Bruins first home loss of the season. In the Pac-12 tournament, Hamilton averaged a team-high 21.0 points, but the Bruins were eliminated in the semifinals.[
]
Professional career
After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
...
, Hamilton played with the Indiana Pacers in the 2017 NBA Summer League
The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League.
Eight teams participated in the wee ...
, and averaged 5.3 points in 14.2 minutes in three games.[ After a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 preseason,] he joined the Canton Charge
The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland.
The fr ...
, the Cavaliers' NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...
team, as an affiliate player. The following offseason, he signed training-camp contract with the Cavaliers, but was waived before camp started. His contract included an Exhibit 10
The NBA salary cap is the limit to the total amount of money that National Basketball Association teams are allowed to pay their players. Like many professional sports leagues, the NBA has a salary cap to control costs and benefit parity, defined b ...
, which left him eligible to receive a bonus if he re-signed with the Charge. Hamilton was named to the Charge's training camp roster.
Hamilton played with AEK Larnaca B.C.
Petrolina AEK Larnaca B.C. (in Greek language, Greek: ΑΕΚ Λάρνακας), is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional basketball club based in Larnaca, Cyprus. The club competes in the Cyprus Basketball Division A, Cypriot Basketball League. The pr ...
in the Cypriot Basketball League in 2019–20, and was named a Cyprus League All-Star in 2020. He averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game. On August 6, 2020, Hamilton signed with Giessen 46ers
The JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers (formerly GIESSEN 46ers) is a professional basketball club based in Gießen, Germany, that plays in the Basketball Bundesliga. Their home arena is Sporthalle Gießen-Ost, with a capacity of 4,003 people.
History
The b ...
of the Basketball Bundesliga. He averaged 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. On September 22, 2021, Hamilton signed with Cherkaski Mavpy
BC Cherkaski Mavpy ( uk, баскетбольний клуб "Черкаські Мавпи", which means "Cherkasy Apes") is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that plays its home games in Cherkasy.
In the 2007 NBA Draft, Cherkaski Mavpy ...
of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague
The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...
.
Career statistics
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2014–15
, style="text-align:left;", UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, 36 , , 36 , , 33.9 , , .409 , , .388 , , .688 , , 3.4 , , 3.2 , , .9 , , .2 , , 10.6
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2015–16
, style="text-align:left;", UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, 32 , , 32 , , 35.3, , .472 , , .377 , , .805 , , 4.2 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 16.8
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2016–17
, style="text-align:left;", UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
, 36 , , 36 , , 30.0 , , .453 , , .366 , , .825 , , 3.6 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .2 , , 14.1
, -class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 104 , , 104 , , 33.0 , , .448 , , .376 , , .773 , , 3.7 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .1 , , 13.7
Awards and honors
*Second-team All-Pac-12 (2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
)
* McDonald's All-American
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...
(2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
)
* ''Cal-Hi Sports'' first-team all-state (2013)[
* ]CIF Southern Section
The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...
3A Player of the Year (2013)[
* John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year (2013)
* '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' All-Area (2013)
*2× All-CIF Southern Section Division 3A (2012–2013)[
*2× First-team All-Trinity League (2012–2013)][
*''Cal-Hi Sports'' third-team all-state (2012)][
*First-team All- CIF City Section (2011)][
]
Personal life
Hamilton's younger brother, Daniel, played college ball at Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
. Their older brother Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
played collegiately at Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
before playing professionally in the NBA.
Notes
References
External links
UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Isaac
1994 births
Living people
American men's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus
Basketball players from Los Angeles
Canton Charge players
Giessen 46ers players
Guards (basketball)
McDonald's High School All-Americans
UCLA Bruins men's basketball players
St. John Bosco High School alumni