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Jason Hamilton (UW Radio Game Announcer) Defining His Husky Basketball Legacy Off The Court...

ChillyDawgChillyDawg Member Posts: 1,469
First Comment 5 Awesomes 5 Up Votes Name Dropper
UW Profile https://gohuskies.com/news/2013/4/18/208218371.aspx

UW Tyee Club https://www.uwtyeeclub.com/article/team-player/

Husky Haul (2013) https://thehuskyhaul.com/2013/06/14/washington-huskies-basketball-color-commentator-jason-hamilton/

Sports Reference College Basketball https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jason-hamilton-1.html


Seattle Times (click for full article) https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/after-being-a-player-and-coach-jason-hamiltons-third-act-as-radio-analyst-will-define-his-legacy-at-uw/

After being a player and coach, Jason Hamilton’s third act as radio analyst will define his legacy with UW Huskies





Other than the few flecks of gray in his salt-and-pepper goatee, Jason Hamilton doesn’t look like somebody who has been calling Washington men’s basketball games on the radio for the past 20 years.

In many ways, the 47-year-old Renton native who starred at Hazen High bears a strong resemblance to the sure-handed point guard who tallied back-to-back 100-plus assist seasons during a two-year stint at UW (1994-96) after transferring from San Diego State.

And he kind of looks like the young Husky coach who was on the sideline for three years, including Washington’s deliriously unexpected and thrilling run to the 1998 NCAA Sweet 16.

But it’s Hamilton’s third act with the Huskies — two decades as a radio broadcaster — that will likely define his legacy at the school he loves.

“It’s one of those things where you go season to season and you don’t realize how many have accumulated until somebody comes up to you and says it’s been 20 years,” Hamilton said. “But it’s kind of cool as well to have a milestone like that. I’ve seen a lot. Been through a lot with the program as a player, a coach and a broadcaster.

“It’s a place that I love so it’s been amazing.”

As much as Bob Houbregs, Brandon Roy and Isaiah Thomas — UW greats whose jerseys are retired and hanging in rafters at Alaska Airlines Arena — Hamilton has become synonymous with Husky basketball due in large part to his 25-year association with the program.

“It’s weird in the sense that I was a decent player, but I wasn’t a Brandon Roy or an Isaiah Thomas,” said Hamilton, who averaged 7.6 points, 4.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals while starting 24 of 53 games. “To think that people think of me as part of the Washington basketball culture is kind of cool just because of my longevity around it.

“It’s not something that I expected. I double-majored in political science and broadcast journalism. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I would be in journalism, but that’s not the trajectory that I came out of school thinking about.”

Following his playing days, Hamilton joined Bob Bender’s staff as an assistant for three years (1996-99).

After a short stint as a sports agent, Hamilton returned to UW in 2002 and replaced Scott Didrickson as a radio analyst.

“We were looking for somebody and Jason immediately came to mind,” said legendary UW broadcaster Bob Rondeau, who spent 32 years (1985-2017) as the play-by-play voice for the men’s basketball team. “I thought he’d be an absolute natural and very appropriate in that role. We talked about it. We didn’t have to audition much.


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