Cannon School’s Jairus Hamilton turning heads with exceptional skill
By Langston Wertz Jr.
RedditOrder Reprint of this Story
On Saturday afternoon, Concord Cannon was winning easily against Metrolina Christian, and the Cougars’ star player, sophomore Jairus Hamilton, was on the bench jumping up and down, celebrating wildly every time his teammates did something well.
Hamilton, 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, is gifted. He averages 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Although he’s the size of many high school centers, Hamilton is more of an extremely large guard, playing mostly outside, making jump shots and crafty passes. But before he sat down in the fourth quarter of a 70-50 win, Hamilton drove down the lane and threw down three vicious dunks that got the crowd at Cannon’s gym on its collective feet.
John D. Simmons jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com
And when Hamilton decides to go to the basket, he gets his large body moving quickly, like a much smaller player, and he explodes suddenly and effortlessly. His dunks, usually two-handed, are smashed in like someone intent on bringing the rim back down to the floor with him.
“Jairus is an exceptional competitor and a great teammate and a natural leader,” said Cannon coach Che’ Roth, whose 3-1 team plays at reigning private school 2A state champ Concord First Assembly Tuesday at 7. “That separates him, and then, the fact that he can really play. And he wants to be the absolute best, not only for himself, but he wants his teammates be the best, too. He pulls the other guys up.”
Hamilton is the son of a pastor, and he’s the baby in a very athletic family. His father, Bill, played at DePaul. His brother, Jared, is a 6-foot-4 freshman guard at Jacksonville State. And his sister, Jasmine, a senior at UNC-Greensboro, was Davidson Day’s female athlete of the year as a senior.
But Jairus (say Jar-ee-ous) is a little different. He’s bigger than everyone else in his family but maintained the hand-eye coordination and skill he developed as a middle school point guard. The summer after eighth grade, he grew six inches.
Roth said colleges marvel at Hamilton’s court vision and ball handling ability for someone his size. Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have already offered scholarships, Roth said, and schools like Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, N.C. State, Oklahoma State and Texas are following Hamilton’s development with great interest.
Hamilton, who turns 17 in January, said he appreciates all of this, but said he’s a major work in progress.
“I’ve got to work on everything,” he said, “because nothing is perfected. I’ve got to improve on a lot of things, like shooting and ball handling.”
Asked what position he plays, Hamilton breaks into a big grin.
“My position is more of a point forward,” he said. “I’m big, but I can handle the ball and see the floor. And my strongest point is competing every game. I don’t care who it is. I’m not afraid of anybody. I’m going to compete my hardest every time.”
With almost all of his sophomore season left and two years after that, Hamilton said he wants to develop into a complete player – and help his school win. A lot.
“I definitely want to get a (state championship) banner out there, so I can have something I did,” he said. “I went here when they won their first state championship (in 2006), and I saw the joy they had and I hopefully I can bring everyone that same joy.”
By Langston Wertz Jr.
RedditOrder Reprint of this Story
On Saturday afternoon, Concord Cannon was winning easily against Metrolina Christian, and the Cougars’ star player, sophomore Jairus Hamilton, was on the bench jumping up and down, celebrating wildly every time his teammates did something well.
Hamilton, 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, is gifted. He averages 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Although he’s the size of many high school centers, Hamilton is more of an extremely large guard, playing mostly outside, making jump shots and crafty passes. But before he sat down in the fourth quarter of a 70-50 win, Hamilton drove down the lane and threw down three vicious dunks that got the crowd at Cannon’s gym on its collective feet.
John D. Simmons jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com
And when Hamilton decides to go to the basket, he gets his large body moving quickly, like a much smaller player, and he explodes suddenly and effortlessly. His dunks, usually two-handed, are smashed in like someone intent on bringing the rim back down to the floor with him.
“Jairus is an exceptional competitor and a great teammate and a natural leader,” said Cannon coach Che’ Roth, whose 3-1 team plays at reigning private school 2A state champ Concord First Assembly Tuesday at 7. “That separates him, and then, the fact that he can really play. And he wants to be the absolute best, not only for himself, but he wants his teammates be the best, too. He pulls the other guys up.”
Hamilton is the son of a pastor, and he’s the baby in a very athletic family. His father, Bill, played at DePaul. His brother, Jared, is a 6-foot-4 freshman guard at Jacksonville State. And his sister, Jasmine, a senior at UNC-Greensboro, was Davidson Day’s female athlete of the year as a senior.
But Jairus (say Jar-ee-ous) is a little different. He’s bigger than everyone else in his family but maintained the hand-eye coordination and skill he developed as a middle school point guard. The summer after eighth grade, he grew six inches.
Roth said colleges marvel at Hamilton’s court vision and ball handling ability for someone his size. Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have already offered scholarships, Roth said, and schools like Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, N.C. State, Oklahoma State and Texas are following Hamilton’s development with great interest.
Hamilton, who turns 17 in January, said he appreciates all of this, but said he’s a major work in progress.
“I’ve got to work on everything,” he said, “because nothing is perfected. I’ve got to improve on a lot of things, like shooting and ball handling.”
Asked what position he plays, Hamilton breaks into a big grin.
“My position is more of a point forward,” he said. “I’m big, but I can handle the ball and see the floor. And my strongest point is competing every game. I don’t care who it is. I’m not afraid of anybody. I’m going to compete my hardest every time.”
With almost all of his sophomore season left and two years after that, Hamilton said he wants to develop into a complete player – and help his school win. A lot.
“I definitely want to get a (state championship) banner out there, so I can have something I did,” he said. “I went here when they won their first state championship (in 2006), and I saw the joy they had and I hopefully I can bring everyone that same joy.”
