Meet the SJ-R's Large School Boys Basketball Player of the Year: SHG's Jake Hamilton

He helped Sacred Heart-Griffin to its first ever boys basketball state championship last year and was a vital cog to help the state’s winningest football coach, Ken Leonard, win a sixth state title in his last season. But Jake Hamilton still wanted more.

Hamilton, SHG’s 6-foot-3 guard, closed out his stellar career as the school’s all-time leading scorer, became an accurate 3-point shooter and improved his defense. But SHG coach Tim Allen said his most important trait had nothing to do with those.

It was Hamilton’s leadership and determination that set him apart.

“Leadership. Going in the gyms at 5 a.m. We lost a key game to (Normal) U-High (on Feb. 10), he went to the gym right after the game,” Allen said of Hamilton. “Just how much he cared, getting on guys, getting on the younger guys, forcing them to compete. (Hamilton) just wanted it.

“His leadership was big," he added. "He wasn’t complaining about anything: running, how long practice was.”

Well, Allen did say Hamilton had just one gripe.

“He only complained about how long my speeches were,” Allen joked.

See our boys basketball team: Here are The State Journal-Register's top-24 boys basketball players for 2022-23

Hamilton, the Central State Eight Conference’s leading scorer with 18.9 points per game, is The State Journal-Register's Large School Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“I know it was a lot of hard work that went into this year and my career,” Hamilton said. “But I definitely couldn’t thank my teammates or my coaches or my family any more. They did a lot to get me to where I was in my career and what I did this year. It was a great year and a great career. I felt rewarded.”

Hamilton dialed in

Perhaps the biggest hole in Hamilton’s game during his junior season came behind the 3-point stripe. His 28% on 3s that season on 107 attempts wasn’t abysmal but there was definitely room for improvement — though it didn’t impede his scoring much, Hamilton still averaged 16.1 points as a junior.

The championship ring on his finger must’ve improved his accuracy (players don’t actually wear rings during games). Hamilton made 47 of his 136 3-point attempts to finish the season at a more-than-respectable 34.6%.

“He grew tremendously,” Allen said. “When he came in, he was more of a scorer: offense, offense, offense. (By the time) he left, it was, ‘What can I do to help my team?’ And he still scored.

“That’s practicing (and) working hard. He's a scorer. He just finds a way to put the ball in the hole.”

But he remained dangerous around the rim with 434 points coming inside the arc. That also got him to the free-throw line where he knocked down a team-leading 76.5% (88-for-115), which was good for fifth in the CS8. Those weren’t the only things Hamilton wanted to improve for his final season.

“I feel like I expanded a little bit more, being able to become an extra defender for coach Allen and adding on to a very elite defensive team,” Hamilton said.

Basketball journey

SHG’s double overtime win over Metamora in the 2022 Class 3A state title game gave the Cyclones their first basketball state championship. Two years earlier, SHG’s first attempt at such history was thwarted when the Illinois High School Association canceled the season the day the Cyclones were leaving to Peoria for that year’s Class 2A state semifinals.

The final game of his high school career Not without a fight: SHG ends four-year run in supersectional with double overtime loss

His sophomore season was abbreviated and did not have a postseason. Hamilton’s senior season ended in the 3A Springfield Supersectional.

“Nobody will say it but I’ll go ahead and say it: it’s the best four-year run I’ve seen since I’ve been alive and it was interrupted by COVID,” Allen said.

When Hamilton looks back at what he hoped to accomplish as a freshman, he checked all the boxes — and then some.

“My expectation was to go to college on a full scholarship to make it helpful for my parents not have to pay for college,” said the NCAA Division II Quincy-bound Hamilton. “That was my No. 1 goal.

“To become an all-stater and to become the all-time leading scorer at the school, win a state championship that’s probably more than I thought would happen coming in as a freshman. To accomplish that was more than I thought I was going to do as a freshman. I’m very grateful of how it turned out.”

In November, Hamilton helped SHG win its sixth state football championship with a 44-20 victory over New Lenox Providence Catholic in the Class 4A title game. He’s sure which crown he chiefly covets.

“I think the basketball one means the most because it’s the sport I love the most and especially to the school, (a basketball championship) had never been done before,” Hamilton said. “That was also more exciting. (Being moved from 2A to 3A in the middle of the season), we proved to everyone we could do it so I think basketball was probably the better one.”

Hamilton passed Dick Schofield Jr., in January to become the school’s all-time leading scorer. He exits with 1,850 points in his career.

But he knows he might be asked to give Quincy something different. And he’s willing.

“It’s a good group of guys, a good group of coaches at Quincy so I’ll definitely do exactly what I’m told,” Hamilton said. “I’ve experienced playing different roles: playing point guard, being a defender, not being the main scorer — I’m definitely ready for whatever coach (Steve) Hawkins throws at me. I’m excited for that process.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Who's the SJ-R's Large School Boys Basketball Player of the Year?