BATON ROUGE, La. – Vernon Hamilton returns to Baton Rouge and LSU Basketball for the 2026-27 season as an assistant coach as part of head coach Will Wade’s second stint with the Tigers.
Hamilton was a part of Coach Wade’s staff at LSU previously from 2020-22.
Most recently, Hamilton served as an assistant coach under Wade at NC State for one season (2025-26) and McNeese State for two seasons (2023-25).
Hamilton was part of a staff which led the Wolfpack to a 20-14 overall record and a 10-8 finish in ACC play as well as a First Four appearance in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
In his two seasons in Lake Charles, Hamilton helped McNeese go 58-11, winning two Southland Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Cowboys 58 wins stands as the most in school history in a two-year span.
Hamilton was on the staff with Coach Wade which advanced to NCAA Tournaments the last three seasons. In all, he has been on staff with Coach Wade for five total NCAA appearances.
“We are pleased to have Vernon Hamilton rejoin our staff at LSU,” said Coach Wade. “His work here in player development previously and his work with top players at McNeese and NC State on our staff was a big part of our ability to get to the NCAA Tournament our last three seasons. He knows our priorities to help build this LSU program back to where it will be.”
During the 2023-24 season at McNeese, Hamilton served as acting Head Coach for the first five games of the year, winning all five contests, including an 81-60 win over eventual American Athletic Conference champion UAB. The 21-point win over UAB marked the Blazers largest margin of defeat at home in over 10 years.
Hamilton was part of the staff which coached 2024 Southland Conference Player and Newcomer of the Year Shahada Wells. The team also had one of the top mid-major players in the country in Christian Shumate, who was the first player in school history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 100 blocked shots, 100 assists and 100 steals in a career.
Prior to arriving at McNeese, Hamilton spent one season (2022-23) as the Director of Player Development at Georgetown University under head coach Patrick Ewing.
During his first stint in Baton Rouge, Hamilton served as Assistant to the Head Coach in 2020-21 and Director of Player Development in 2021-22 working with such players as NBA players Trendon Watford, Tari Eason and Cam Thomas.
Earlier, Hamilton spent two seasons (2018-2020) as Assistant and Associate Head Basketball Coach of the Jeonju KCC Egis team in the South Korean Basketball League. The team advanced to the KBL semifinals in 2019. Hamilton was the first American and youngest coach selected to coach in the KBL All-Star game.
He also served as a member of the player development staff for the Dallas Mavericks during the 2017-18 season, assisting Mavericks staff with on-court drills, player workouts and breakdown of player videos and workouts.
Hamilton also served two seasons as a Graduate Assistant at Clemson (2014-16) while earning his masters of science in youth development leadership (2016) at the school. He assisted in several aspects of the basketball program working with the coaching staff and student-athletes.
Hamilton was a four-year starter for Clemson (2004-07) and ended his career No. 1 all-time in steals average at the school with 271 steals. That was sixth in career steals in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is ninth in assists at Clemson with 403 and scored over 1,200 points to finish in the top 25 in school history.
He was a first team ACC All-Defensive team selection in 2006 and on the Collegeinsider.com Defensive All-American team in 2007. He received a bachelor of science degree in sports management in 2007.
Professionally, Hamilton played basketball both in the United States and overseas, including NBA training camp runs with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 and the Detroit Pistons in 2012. He also earned defensive player of the year in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2011. His Colorado 14ers also won the NBA Development League (now the NBA G League) title in 2009.
Hamilton has also served as Marketing Logistics Manager for Coca-Cola Glaceau in Washington, D.C. He served for several years as a mentor for 100 Black Men of Atlanta and was co-chair of the Kids Score Against Kidney Disease Basketball Camp in Richmond, Virginia presented by the National Kidney Foundation in 2005.
The Hamilton File
Season: Third (Previously served two seasons, 2020-22)
Birthdate: December 28, 1984
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
College: Clemson (2007)
M.S. Youth Development Leadership (2016)
College Coaching Experience
2014-16: Grad Assistant, Clemson
2020-21: Assistant to the Head Coach, LSU
2021-22: Director of Player Development, LSU
2022-23: Director of Player Development, Georgetown
2023-25: Assistant Coach, McNeese
2025-26: Assistant Coach, NC State
April 2026: Assistant Coach, LSU
**Press Release
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