Boys’ basketball: Crenshaw is a family tradition for Hamiltons
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Isaac Hamilton, one of the top incoming freshman basketball players in the country, will hardly be the first member of his family to attend Crenshaw.
His father Greg and his 11 siblings all attended the school. His mother Karen and her two brothers went there. Greg played for legendary basketball Coach Willie West, as did several of Isaac’s uncles. Only older brother Jordan Hamilton, the Texas-bound standout, bucked the trend by attending Dorsey before transferring to Compton Dominguez.
Isaac, a 6-3 wing player, was ranked the 78th-best eighth-grader in the country at the Top 150 Phenom Camp. Crenshaw Coach Ed Waters said the youngest Hamilton is a deadly three-point shooter who handles the ball like a point guard and can play four positions.
With Hamilton in the fold, the Cougars appear poised challenge perennial City Section powers Westchester, Fairfax and Taft next season. They also return 6-7 swingman Geoffrey Allen and guards Duce Zaid and Reynaul Baker.
Allen, the son of former UCLA and NBA star Lucius Allen, was a surprising standout last month at the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va. He was extended a special invitation through his father and wasn’t expected to make much of a contribution.
‘I went in and nobody really knew who I was,’ Geoffrey Allen said. ‘They didn’t know that I could really play.’
Allen came off the bench in the first game to help his team record a comeback victory and then moved into the starting lineup after a few teammates were injured. By the end of the camp he was averaging about 11 points while going against the likes of Gary Franklin Jr. and Tyler Lamb.
Allen has received interest from Oregon State, Nevada Reno, New Mexico State, Fresno State and Portland, but look for his recruiting to intensify. He professes a love for Stanford and the Cardinal would be well advised to give him a serious look.
--Ben Bolch