Eastern Kentucky hires NC State assistant as new hoops coach

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RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) Eastern Kentucky has hired North Carolina State assistant A.W. Hamilton as head men's basketball coach.

Hamilton spent last season on Kevin Keatts' Wolfpack staff in Raleigh after coaching Hargrave Military Academy from 2011-17 and guiding the prep program to the national championship in 2016. Hamilton is a two-time National Prep Coach of the Year. He also worked under Keatts from 2006-11 at Hargrave before his promotion to head coach.

The Georgetown, Kentucky, native said in a release Friday that the opportunity to come home and coach at EKU ''is one that I cannot put into words.'' Hamilton replaces Dan McHale, who went 38-55 overall and 16-34 in the Ohio Valley Conference over three seasons with the Colonels.

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