“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;”>Richard
“Bird” Hamilton is stepping down as the head boys basketball coach
at Beaumont High School after 17 years on the job.
Not only
was Bird a successful head coach, he was an excellent role model
and mentor to many young men who learned under him during his more
than two decades on the bench at Roosevelt as an assistant coach
and Beaumont as the head coach. He always commanded respect with
his large stature and throaty voice that was more distinguishable
than any other coach in St. Louis.
Since
taking over the Beaumont program in 1995, Hamilton’s teams produced
winning records on a consistent basis while annually playing
against the top competition in the St. Louis area. Beaumont’s
schedules always looked like the Who’s Who of St. Louis high school
basketball as he accepted every challenge.
“We’ve had
some pretty good teams here and Beaumont and we were able to
accomplish a lot of things,” Hamilton said. “We never backed down
from a challenge. I always wanted to play the best teams year in
and year out. We may not have won them all, but we won our
share.”
“font-family: Verdana;”>Hamilton “font-family: Verdana;”>is a product of the Public High League, where he has spent virtually all of his playing and coaching career. He was a star player at Central High School during the mid to late 1970’s for head coach Jim Gant. Hamilton credits Gant along with other PHL coaching greats such as Jodie Bailey, Marvin Neals and George Cross as men who helped shape him as a coach.
Upon the
end of his playing career (collegiately at Ole Miss and UMSL), Bird
returned to be an assistant coach at Roosevelt, which was led by
Gant. Hamilton took over the reins at Roosevelt for two seasons and
enjoyed some stellar results. When Beaumont needed a new coach
after the 1994 season, Hamilton answered the call.
“I’ve
always been proud to be a product of the PHL,” he said. “I’ve had
some other opportunities to coach in the county, but the PHL is
where my love is and I always thought is was important for me to
stay in the city and work with inner city kids who are in the same
situation that I was in.”
“font-family: Verdana;”>Hamilton “font-family: Verdana;”>’s most successful pupil during his tenure was Bryan Turner, who enjoyed a stellar career at Beaumont from 1997-2000. Turner graduated as the school’s career-leading scorer before going on to enjoy an excellent career at Southern Illinois University, where he helped the Salukis to two NCAA Tournament berths.
Turner has
been Hamilton’s assistant for the past four seasons. Now, he will
be handed the reins to the Beaumont program while Hamilton will
continue his duties as the school’s Athletic Director.
“I am very
excited about Bryan taking over the program,” Hamilton said. “We’ve
talked about this a year ago. Bryan has enjoyed a lot of success at
Beaumont, so it’s only fitting that he is the one who will take
over.”
“font-family: Verdana;”>Congratulations to Richard “Bird” Hamilton. A good man who made a very positive impact on a lot of young men in the city.
