PAULA CAPUTO — Special to Southern News
A roaring sound of cheers came from the visitors’ bench as 6-foot-6 Trevon Hamlet scored another basket racking up 30 points against Assumption College on Feb. 23, 2011. That game was one of the many high scoring games that Hamlet has had in his college career. By the end of his sophomore year, he already managed to surpass 1,000 points and help Southern Connecticut State University’s men’s basketball finish with the third best win turnaround in all of Division II. The widely known national publication, The Sporting News, recognized those accomplishments, which is why they decided to name Hamlet a Preseason All-American.
Preseason All-American means one thing: that Hamlet was acknowledged as one of the top 25 to 30 ball players in the country at a Division II level. Coming in as a sophomore, Hamlet made an immediate impact in the 2010-11 season. SCSU even qualified for the league tournament for the first time since 2002. He collected All-ECAC and All- Northeast-10 Conference honors to add to his accomplishments. None of this came easy to Hamlet, it took a lot of determination.
“It means that I worked hard all last season and it paid off,” he said. “Weight room, practice, playing as a team, it means a lot.”
Being named preseason All-American means the athlete has a good chance of finishing the end of their season with the same title. Normally, that would put pressure on most to feel as if they have to perform greatness, but not Hamlet.
“I know that as long as we win, then it doesn’t really matter to me,” he said. “We have a great team, so getting All-American isn’t really a goal for me. At the end of the day as long as we get a championship I’ll be happy.”
Head basketball coach, Mike Donnelly who coached Hamlet his freshman year at Post University, said it’s a great accomplishment for Hamlet and also great recognition for the basketball program at SCSU. Coach Donnelly recruited Hamlet out of high school and when he took the position as head coach at SCSU, he didn’t want to leave Hamlet behind.
“I told him right away that I wanted him to come with me.” Donnelly said. “Even though I really tried to stay out of that decision for him, because it’s a huge decision, he knew I wanted him to come over here and he was looking forward to the challenge.”
Coach Donnelly explained that the nice part about Hamlet is that he’s humble. The teammates really support him, and recognize the hard work that he puts into the game. Coach Donnelly said Hamlet is a huge asset for the team on and off the courts.
“He kind of took an unidentified role of being a leader on the court,” Donnelly said. “He’s one of our hardest working players that we have. He’s a great teammate, and he’s very coachable.
Greg Langston, who is teammates with Hamlet, said that Trevon is one of the best players he’s ever played with.
“He does everything for us.” Langston said. “He’s a great passer, and he’s top in blocks, so he’s our all around player. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have had that turnaround that we had.”
Langston expresses that All-American is a huge deal for Hamlet. The team jokes around with him about it all the time but knows that when it comes down to it, the team is what matters most to Hamlet.
“It’s a big deal.” Langston said. “But I feel like he would take that back to win a championship.”
