The Burlington girls’ basketball program will soon be led by Northwestern Oklahoma State University Hall of Famer, Coach Margo Hamilton. Hamilton was hired Wednesday night by the Board of Education to become the next coach of one of its proudest programs.
Hamilton, a graduate of Canute High school, played on the Lady Rangers basketball team from 1993 to 1997 and ran cross country from 1995 to 1996. Hamilton, who averaged 14.3 points per game and scored 415 points her senior year, was named second team All-OIC and KALV Player of the Year for the 1996-1997 season. She also received the Marge Bohlen Women’s Athletic Award in 1995.
Superintendent Kevin Brown stated, “Coach Hamilton is the first step and the coach these student athletes, school and community needs to begin putting us back where we belong”.
Coach Hamilton has 24 years of coaching experience. Hamilton was an Assistant Basketball Coach at South Barber in Kiowa, Kansas, from 1998-1999, a NWOSU Grad Assistant for Women’s Basketball from 1999-2000, Head Alva Middle School Girls’ Basketball and Softball Coach from 2000-2003, Head Alva Middle School and Assistant High School Girls’ Basketball Coach from 2003-2004, the NWOSU Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach from 2004-2011. She was the Head Cherokee Middle School and High School Girls’ Basketball coach from 2011-2014. From 2014-present, the head coach for Alva Middle school while spending some time with the high school.
“Coach Hamilton has a broad background of coaching students, all ages, including the college level, while succeeding at each level on and off the court. Coach Hamilton will bring discipline, a positive culture, high energy, work ethic and most of all, a love for her players to Burlington girls’ basketball”, stated Principal Gerrett Spears.
Coach Hamilton is married to Paul Hamilton, a teacher in the Alva Public School system, and has two children, Hallie and Trace.
Eric Smith, current head coach at Dale, former state champion head coach at Alva and Burlington Graduate praised Coach Hamilton saying “she will be great at Burlington, she played college basketball and has lots of experience and knowledge. She is a hard worker and cares a lot about her players”.
“I’m excited to see what Coach Hamilton does at Burlington. I always felt extremely lucky to have her lead our middle school program. She was great at getting our kids to compete at a high level while also developing and getting better at the fundamentals on a daily basis. Our program and success had a lot of factors, but she was definitely one of them” stated another former Head Coach, Dusty Horn.
Hamilton will hit the ground running with summer activities.