Highland girls basketball coach Hamilton earns BND honor with O’Fallon’s Knollhoff
On April 17, Clint Hamilton scrolled through a story on the Belleville News-Democrat website announcing the Class 3A-4A all-area girls basketball team along with Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honorees.
He read the story and gave little thought to it until a few hours later when he got texts from some of his players telling him congratulations.
Hamilton was honored along with O’Fallon coach Nick Knollhoff as Class 3A-4A Coach Of The Year.
“I really honestly didn’t know about when I first saw that BND put the players together since I had just scrolled through (the story) and we had four girls make it on there so I was congratulating them,” Hamilton said.
Then Hamilton started getting congratulation from his players later that evening after reading the story and he was completely floored.
“One of the girls said something about me getting co-Coach of the Year and I just skimmed right over it,” Hamilton said. “It’s a real cool honor, but I think a lot of that credit goes to our coaching staff of coach (Bret) Pollard and (Austin) Welz as they do a lot of stuff behind the scenes that doesn’t necessarily get credit on a night to night basis.”
In just his second full season as the Lady Bulldogs head coach, Hamilton guided Highland to a 27-8 record that culminated in a Class 3A Super Sectional appearance in Springfield on March 2.
During the 2019-20 season HHS built a strong campaign thanks to wins over the likes of Breese Mater Dei, Greenville, and Jerseyville along with victories over Mississippi Valley Conference rival Civic Memorial and O’Fallon.
Senior guard Megan Kronk, who recently signed her letter of intent to play basketball at Kaskaskia College next year, said she was happy to see Hamilton and the coaching staff rewarded for all their hard work this season.
“We (players) were all going crazy because we all love Clint and Welzy and Pollard,” Kronk said. “They all made our season what it was and so much fun and we worked hard and had fun and really built kind of like a family (this year).”
Hamilton credits assistants, players for award
Hamilton gives the ultimate credit for the award to his players and his assistant coaches for helping take the program from middle of the road to elite in just his first two seasons at HHS.
“I think it’s a testament to the girls and how hard they work every day and what we work on in practice and apply it in a game and it’s cool to be recognized because there’s a lot of great coaches in the area and a lot of great basketball teams at the 3A and 4A level, so I’m sure coach Knollhoff feels the same way,” Hamilton said. “He puts in a lot of work over at O’Fallon and he does a great job with those kids as you can see.”
As a byproduct of winning the award, Hamilton is hopeful the program is now seen as one that does things the right way and is trending on a good path.
“What a cool honor because there are a lot of great coaches in this area and I think it just says a lot about our program and hopefully we’re trending in the right direction going into the future,” Hamilton said.