Franklin College

Chris Hamilton was announced as the new head coach of the men's basketball program on Apr. 27, 2022.

In 2023-24, the Grizzlies earned their second straight conference tournament bid under Hamilton, going 10-8 in league play to finish fifth in the league. Franklin had three players earn all-conference accolades in Lynn King, Braden Flanagan and Jessie Morgan III and Jack Hendricks was named CSC Academic All-DIstrict after the season. Franklin finished the campaign as the leading three-point shooting team in the HCAC, connecting on 36.5% of their attempts from long range. 

In his first season leading the Grizzlies, Hamilton guided Franklin to 13 wins and a spot in the HCAC Tournament. Defense was the Grizzlies' calling card in his first year, with Franklin leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (43.2%) and ranking third in three-point percentage defense (34.3%). Hamilton guided a trio of players to the first all-conference awards of their career with Carter Crowe, Lynn King and Ryan Bostic all picking up post-season accolades. 

A veteran at the Division III level as both a coach and a player, Hamilton comes to Franklin following a four-year tenure at Nebraska Wesleyan University under two-time NCAA DIII Coach of the Year Dale Wellman.

During his time on the Nebraska Wesleyan bench, the Prairie Wolves went 69-21 with a 43-15 record in American Rivers Conference (ARC) play, winning the league's regular season and conference tournament championships in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Prairie Wolves finished atop Division III in offensive efficiency in 2019 and 2020, and ranked in the top-10 in field goal percentage defense in 2021.

He assisted Wellman in all facets of the Prairie Wolves' program and had a hand in developing three ARC Players of the Year and two finalists for the Jostens NCAA Division III Most Outstanding Player of the Year. In addition to his coaching duties, Hamilton also served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, working primarily with both basketball and soccer programs.

Hamilton began his college basketball career at Division III powerhouse Randolph-Macon College, first as a player from 2011-15 and then as an assistant coach from 2016-18. During his time on the Yellow Jackets' coaching staff, he helped guide the team to two conference regular season championships with two teams that ranked in the top-10 nationally in scoring defense.

As a player, he helped the Yellow Jackets to a 90-27 record over his four years with two conference regular season and conference tournament titles each. He ended his time on the roster with the sixth-most three-pointers in program history at 171 and was a 43.5% shooter from deep. A two-time academic all-conference selection, Hamilton earned his bachelor's degree in Business/Economics from Randolph-Macon in 2015.

He began his coaching career at Division I Mount St. Mary's as a graduate assistant in 2015-16, where he completed his Master of Science degree in Sports Management.