Charlestown’s Steve Hamilton to be Honored Tuesday
Steve Hamilton, the two-sport Pirate star athlete, will be recognized in the second series of events by the Charlestown High School Athletic Department and the Centennial Committee as the boy’s basketball program continues to celebrate their 100th Anniversary.
Members of Hamilton’s family will be at mid-court where a life-size framed photograph of the legendary Pirate has already been placed in his honor at the Charlestown Sports Arena, Tuesday, November 29, 2016, between the Pirates-Silver Creek Dragons games.
Hamilton, who was coached by Harold Reis and Billy L. Abel, lettered in basketball and baseball at Charlestown. He led the Pirates to an 18-5 exceptional mark his senior year, before bowing to the Red Devils in the Jeffersonville sectional finals. He had a game-high of 18 points in the loss.
In 1952, Hamilton set the single-game scoring record at Charlestown. He pumped in 38 points against Henryville at the Hornets gym.
Hamilton, who had double-digits 22 times in his career, is credited with scoring 372 points in 21 games his senior year. That season, Hamilton had games of 38, 28, 26, 25 and 24. Though records are incomplete for Hamilton’s two seasons of varsity Pirates, he is attributed with an overall career mark of 446 points. He ended with an 18-ppga before entering his collegiate career at Morehead State University (MSU) in Kentucky. At MSU, Hamilton set five basketball records, all in the rebounding department, including single-season average of 20.1 per game, average career 16.4, single game 38, single season 543 rebounds and career 1,675 boards. His career-best single-game performance of 51 points came versus Ohio University during the season of 1956-57. He was named an All-American that season.
Hamilton is the only two-sport athlete to play in the NCAA Basketball Championships, a Major League Baseball World Series and a National Basketball Championship series. He is famous among Major League Baseball aficionado for his pitch called the “folly-floater.”
After his professional career, Hamilton returned to his alma mater to coach Morehead’s baseball team. He coached the Eagles for 10 seasons leading them to a 230-173 record. He guided the Eagles to four divisional championships, one regular season title and two trips to the NCAA tournament. He is Morehead’s all-time winningest coach with 305 victories.
In 1988, Hamilton was named the Athletic Director of Morehead State and served as MSU’s athletic director until his death in 1997. Before his untimely death, he was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame.