BATON ROUGE – Two members of LSU’s coaching staff, Vernon Hamilton and Damon Stoudamire, have been named to the 2026 Silver Wave Media Most Impactful/Influential High Major Assistant Coaches list announced on Wednesday.
Considered as one of the more prestigious lists in college basketball, over 50 coaches who have made this list in the past have become Head Coaches in the last seven years.
Established in 2020, Silver Waves Media is dedicated to helping sports professionals and athletes advance their careers to the next stage. Founded by Ryan Silver, the purpose of Silver Waves Media is to lift up others in the sports world and highlight the success and achievements of those around us.
Hamilton is in his second stint as an assistant coach at LSU after serving on Coach Will Wade’s staff from 2020-22. He has been again with Coach Wade the last three years (two at McNeese and one at NC State). During the 2023-24 season at McNeese, Hamilton served as acting Head Coach for the first five games of the season, winning all five contests.
Hamilton is originally from Richmond, Virginia and played at Clemson. He coached in the South Korean Basketball League and worked in player development for the Dallas Mavericks, prior to joining up with Coach Wade in his first stint at LSU.
Stoudamire has already has an illustrious career as a player at Arizona and was the seventh overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. He played 13 years in the NBA with four different teams before moving into college coaching. In the Association, he had career averages of 13.4 points, 6.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 879 contests.
He has coached in the NBA and spent time back at his alma mater as an Arizona assistant (with two NCAA Elite 8 seasons) and has earned head coaching positions at Pacific and Georgia Tech, before joining Coach Wade at LSU.
Hamilton and Stoudamire will also as part of this honor be a part of a special Silver Waves event the NCAA Final Four where participants will be able to interact and network with various athletic department officials from around the country.