Washington radio analyst Jason Hamilton calls a game against Texas Southern in Seattle. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times, 2021)
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By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Sometime in March, Jason Hamilton will put the headsets down for the last time and put an end to a 24-year career as a radio analyst for the Washington men’s basketball team.
It’s a decision he’s been thinking about for a while, but last week he began telling folks that this season will be his last with the Huskies.
“My wife (Michelle) was thinking I was going to get to 25 years and then do it,” Hamilton said. “But it has gotten increasingly more challenging to do it all. And so, while I would have loved to continue to do it — quite honestly, forever — it’s just very hard to continue to manage all the responsibilities and continue to do it.
“But I’m going to miss it terribly, no question about it. I think about being in these arenas and being around college sports. … I’ve never not been involved in the sport for the last 30 years, being in a gym and calling a game, coaching a game, playing in a game. So, it’s going to be a heck of a transition.”
For more than three decades, the 51-year-old Renton native who starred at Hazen High has been affiliated with Washington.
The sure-handed 6-foot point guard transferred from San Diego State in 1994 and immediately moved into the starting lineup where he tallied 123 and 103 assists as a junior and senior, respectively. During his two-year stint, he averaged 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals while starting 24 of 53 games.
Hamilton jokes that one of his crowning achievements is his single-game Husky record of nine steals, which was set on Nov. 28, 1996 against Eastern Washington.
“I thought Matisse (Thybulle) would break that for sure,” he said referencing the UW’s all-time steals leader and 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year who is tied for second while tallying seven steals in four games.
After graduating with degrees in political science and broadcast journalism, Hamilton joined Bob Bender’s staff as an assistant for three years (1996-99). His UW teams compiled a 54-33 record, including a surprising run to the Sweet 16 in 1998.
Following a short time as a sports agent, Hamilton returned to UW in 2002 as a radio analyst alongside legendary broadcaster Bob Rondeau.
“I certainly called games for him when he played and he made the all-interview team, that’s for sure,” said Rondeau, who hired Hamilton. “I knew he had the inherent talent to be able to be really good at that job. I’m not sure I knew how good he would become, but he certainly did.”
They spent 15 years together before Rondeau retired after 32 years at Washington in 2017 and was replaced by Tony Castricone.
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“Not every program has a Jason Hamilton,” Castricone said. “Somebody that was an impactful player. Someone who’s in the record books in multiple categories at UW. Someone who was an assistant coach, and then almost two and a half decades as the broadcaster and lending insight that blends all aspects of the game together. Someone who understands the game of basketball, but can tell you what players are thinking as a player and can tell you what a coach is thinking as a coach.
“Honestly, if broadcasting were a video game, and you had to create your own (analyst) who’s going to rate as a 99 in different categories, that to me, would be Jason Hamilton.”
During his broadcast career, Hamilton covered three Husky coaches who told stories about the well-informed analyst, who also straddles the line of being a UW supporter and passionate broadcaster.
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Lorenzo Romar (2002-17): “He was unbelievably awesome. He played the game at a high level, understands the game and has a high basketball IQ, along with being very how should I say, just so calm and even tempered. Not too high, not too low. Didn’t run from the tough questions, but what was fair. He was just so much fun to work with. I knew him away from the professional side and what a great guy. He will be missed.”
Mike Hopkins (2017-24): “I always remember, win or lose, I would leave the locker room and all the families would be across the court. I would walk and go up for the postgame show, and it would be him and Tony. They were still doing their broadcast before I sat down. And we would just look at each other. And if we’d lost, J-Ham would give me that look that said, ‘Man, we were this close.’ And those were the moments that I treasure, because he was always for me and the Huskies, win or lose. He was just the guy that made you feel better if you lost, and was really excited if you won. And I just love that about him.”
Danny Sprinkle (2024-present): “He’s awesome. He’s so fun to be with on the road. He’s got a great perspective. He loves Husky basketball. He’s tremendous at what he does. And our players respect him. He’s one of those guys who is the same every day. He’s got great energy. He’s always got a smile, win or lose. In the airports, in the gym, it doesn’t matter. He’s one of those guys you look forward to seeing.”
From Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson, to Isaiah Thomas and Thybulle, Hamilton has broadcast 670 games and narrated the rise and fall of Husky hoops over the past quarter century.
When asked his favorite moments on press row, he noted the 2004-05 UW team that garnered the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and Thomas’ game-winning shot at the buzzer to win the Pac-10 title in 2011.
Hamilton still laments Washington’s heartbreaking loss to Connecticut in the 2006 Sweet 16 and believes if Roy and hadn’t received a dubious technical foul, then the Huskes would have won the game and beaten George Mason two days later for their first trip to the Final Four since 1953.
“That’s still something that sticks with me as a cool, but not-so cool moment,” he said. “That’s the one that irks me the most.”Eleven years ago, Hamilton was hired at Marsh, an insurance broker and risk management adviser, where he’s a managing director who oversees offices in the Pacific Northwest.
Put simply, the increasing demands of his day job have made it impossible for Hamilton to remain at Washington.
And admittedly, after the Huskies left the Pac-12, he wanted to call games at every Big Ten school and visit some of the historic college basketball venues, including Indiana’s Assembly Hall, Purdue’s Mackey Arena and Michigan State’s Breslin Center.
“I’ve always admired the league from afar, but I was very curious and it’s one of the reasons why I still continued when the Pac-12 dissolved,” Hamilton said. “We got the games coming up at Rutgers and Maryland, but because of that two-year period, I will have been in every opposing arena in the Big Ten. I got to see every place, experience that. And that was really cool.”
Hamilton doesn’t have much advice to his successor other than: “Just embrace it.” And when asked what he’ll miss most, he talked about the relationships he’s fostered.
“It’s the stuff that people don’t ever see,” he said. “It’s the bus rides and pregame meals with the team. It’s the individual conversations with coach Sprinkle and the coaching staff.
“Even when I was a player and a coach, you miss the relationship parts of being so close to the game. You’re on the inside of things that people never really have an opportunity to see outside of the 40 minutes on the court. And that’s the special times when you really get to know people. Obviously, the wins and losses are the most important part, but for me, personally, it’ll be the relationships and the stuff behind the scenes.”
Washington (13-13, 5-10 Big Ten) has five regular-season games remaining and will play in the conference tournament that starts March 10. Hamilton hoped to call one more NCAA tournament game for the Huskies, which is unlikely and it remains to be seen if they’ll receive an NIT invite.
Whenever UW plays its last game, Hamilton will sign off for the final time.
“I think I’ll be a little numb that it’s over, to be honest,” he said. “I have no idea what I’ll say, but I’m sure I’ll thank all the Husky fans for their support over the years.”
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.