Mark Hamilton enters his first season
as an assistant with the Yellowjackets after taking
over for longtime assistant Brent Montague,
who resigned in July to take a position off campus.
Along with his coaching duties, Hamilton will also
be the school’s compliance coordinator.
“I can’t think of anyone better
to replace Brent Montague than Mark,” said Carse.
“He was one of the most productive players to ever
be a part of our program.”
The Columbus, Montana, native
played at MSU Billings from 1994-1998, helping the
Yellowjackets win two Pacific West Conference
championships and earn three NCAA Tournament
berths. He was the captain of the 1998 team that
captured the PacWest title.
“I came back to MSU Billings to
be part of a program that focuses on improving
someone’s basketball skills as well as their life
skills and character,” said Hamilton. “Coach
Carse’s program teaches people to be accountable for
their actions. The biggest things I took away from
playing here were the relationships with my
teammates. I’m still good friends with five of the
guys I played with, and we still keep in touch.
This program deals with camaraderie to the fullest
and that means a lot.”
Hamilton was a two-sport star
at Columbus High School, quarterbacking the Cougars
to the
State B football championship in 1992 and a
runner-up finish in 1993. After leading the
Columbus basketball team to runner-up finishes in
the 1993 and 1994 state tournaments, Hamilton signed
to play for MSU Billings where he went on to become
one of the school’s all-time leading scorers.
Hamilton played in 110 games as
a Yellowjacket, scoring 1,463 points and making 286
three-pointers. He’s still No. 7 on MSUB’s all-time
scoring list and No. 2 for three-pointers made in a
career. Hamilton is also in the Yellowjacket career
record book for points per game (10th at
17.9), field goals made (6th with 496),
and three-point percentage (4th at
42.56). In 1996-97, he made 115 three-pointers
(fourth-best for a single season in school history),
shooting 44.7 percent from behind the arc (the
school’s sixth-best single season performance). He
followed that with 113 three-pointers in 1997-98
(fifth-highest single season total).
Hamilton spent two seasons as
an assistant coach with the Billings Rimrockers
while finishing his degree in education at
MSU Billings. After graduating in 2000, he became
the head boys’ basketball coach at Meeteetse High
School in Wyoming. He spent one year at Meeteetse
before being hired to head the boys’ basketball
program at Worland High School, where he coached
last season. Hamilton and his wife Julie plan to
move to Billings as soon as possible as he will
begin work immediately. |
