Christena Hamilton is in her fourth season as an assistant coach of the Winthrop basketball program. Her primary responsibilities with the program include serving as the recruiting coordinator, player development with an emphasis on post players, and overseeing community service projects.
"Coach Hamilton is a great asset to our program. Not only does she work tirelessly on the recruiting trail, her experience as a division 1 player has proved beneficial in assisting with the development of our players."
Hamilton was very instrumental in recruiting and developing Winthrop standout, Diana Choibekova. Choibekova led the conference in made three pointers and three pointers in a season. She also assisted with the development of two-time Big South Player of the Year Dequesha McClanahan and Freshman of the Year Schaquilla Nunn.
In addition to her coaching duties, she works closely with the CHAMPS/Life Skills program in planning and coordinating the team’s community service projects.
Hamilton came to Winthrop prior to the 2011-12 season from Daytona State College where she helped direct the 2010-11 Lady Falcons to the Mid-Florida Conference Co-Championship.
Hamilton, a standout player for Temple University,
graduated cum laude from Temple in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. During her time at Temple, she enjoyed an impressive career on the court as she started 48 games and helped lead the team to two Philadelphia Big-5 Titles, two Atlantic-10 Championships and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Individually, Hamilton earned Atlantic-10 All-Tournament Team honors in 2004 while helping the Owls to the conference championship and its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons. She was also named to the Big-5 All-Academic Team, and earned the Team Student-Athlete Academic Award in 2003 and 2004. Hamilton earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Villanova in 2011.
At Daytona State she served as the recruiting coordinator as well as the academic coordinator. The team ranked as high as third in the state of Florida in 2010-11 and also posted the state’s best mark for points allowed at 56.7 per game.
Hamilton spent two years coaching girls’ basketball at Coatesville High School before taking the assistant position at Daytona State. In her first season, the team posted a 24-7 record and featured All-American guard Amber White, who just wrapped-up her collegiate career with the North Carolina State women’s basketball program. She also coached several women’s basketball recreational league teams in the Philadelphia area and ran two youth leagues, one in Coatesville, PA and the other in Phoenixville, PA.
Prior to joining the staff at Daytona State, Hamilton used to conduct basketball camps and clinics with her brother Richard "Rip" Hamilton throughout the year at various locations across the country. Rip Hamilton is a three-time All-Star and World Champion (2004) with the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. He also led Connecticut men’s basketball team to a 1999 National Championship and was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the NCAA Final Four.
