Daniel Hamilton Flashes Potential Amid Freshman Mistakes for UConn

Given that UConn is one of the dominant college basketball programs of the last two decades, it somewhat surprising that the Huskies don’t tend to land elite recruits. That’s a big reason why there is so much excitement surrounding freshman small forward Daniel Hamilton, who was generally regarded as one of the best perimeter prospects in the class of 2014. Hamilton has done a nice job for the Huskies thus far, and his performance in the loss to West Virginia displayed both his enormous potential and how much of learning curve he still has to overcome.

On the year, Hamilton is averaging 13.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 2.0 APG while shooting 50.0% from the floor and 56.3% from three. He displayed all his skills against the Mountaineers, scoring 15 points on 6-10 shooting while grabbing 9 rebounds. Hamilton also chipped in three assists, a steal, and a block, and he was the only Husky with a good performance from behind the arc (2-4). He flashed his all around skills several times, most notably with a beautiful behind the back move to get to the rim on a fast break and a couple great dribble drives to pull-up midrange jumpers.

However, Hamilton also committed a team high 8 turnovers, and he looked totally overwhelmed by West Virginia’s press. Hamilton forced way too many passes, and he frequently committed the cardinal sin of leaving his feet before he passed. Though this game skews his average, it is telling that Hamilton is averaging 3.8 turnovers per game in his first four college contests.

One of the big questions for UConn entering this season was who would replace DeAndre Daniels, and it clearly looks like Hamilton is the answer to that question. His numbers are very similar, and his athleticism and versatility certainly remind UConn fans of Daniels (as does his stick thin frame). Hamilton is starting at small forward and spending quite a bit of time as a stretch four, recreating the Daniels role.

However, Hamilton still has to do some major adapting to the college game, particularly getting used to the idea that pure athletic ability won’t cover up technical mistakes. That adjustment is very common for elite high school prospects, but UConn is relying on Hamilton so heavily that they need him to make it quickly.

UConn has to be very encouraged by what they’ve seen from Hamilton thus far, as his all around game is living up to the hype and is exactly what they need to contend at the top of the AAC. However, it looks like the Huskies are still going to have work through some freshman mistakes with their young star before he realizes his potential. Hamilton is going to be very, very good, but there are definitely going to be some growing pains like the West Virginia game along the way.

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