Bill Hamilton began his career at South Carolina State University in July 1973 as a public information specialist in the Public Relations Office before being named the university’s first full-time Sports Information Director (SID) two years later. Upon his retirement in 2013 after an almost 40-year career, the press box at the university’s Oliver C. Dawson Football Stadium was named in his honor.
Today, he remains engaged at SC State, serving as a sports historian, radio announcer and contributor in selected sports.
A Baltimore, MD native, Hamilton grew up in Chesterfield, SC where he attended public schools and earned a diploma from the former Gary High School.
He earned a bachelor’s in English Language and Literature at SC State in 1973 and received a Master of Education degree from the Orangeburg Institution in 1979. He did further study at New York University.
Hamilton has earned numerous professional awards during his long, distinguished career at his alma mater, including the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award, the CoSIDA Trailblazer Award, and the CoSIDA Arch Ward Award. Other awards the SC State alumnus received included the All-American Football Foundation Scoop Hudgins Outstanding SID Award, and the BCSIDA Cal Jacox-Champ Clark Award. In February 2011, he was featured by ESPN.com during Black History Month. In May 2012, he received the Herman Helms Media Excellence Award from the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame (SCAHOF), where he currently serves as a board member and on the executive committee as second vice president.
He is enshrined in the MEAC Hall of Fame, the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, the SC State Athletic Hall of Fame, and the SC State Physical Education Hall of Fame. In addition, Hamilton was named Staff Employee of the Year at SC State in 1999, a NAFEO (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education) Distinguished Alumnus in 2005, and was designated a Stellar Alumnus on the SC State National Alumni Association’s 2010 calendar.
He was a longtime pollster for both the Sheridan Broadcasting Network (SBN) and The Sports Network (TSN) and is currently a pollster for the STATS FCS rankings. He also served nine years on the NCAA Final Four Media Coordination Committee.
Hamilton is a member of the Greater Orangeburg Alumni Chapter of SC State and a Life Member of the SCSU National Alumni Association.
He has been actively involved in his community over the years, formerly serving as the longtime board chairman of the Orangeburg Attention Homes, Inc.; former board member and executive committee member of the SC State Employees Association (SCSEA) and former president of the Orangeburg chapter; and former board member and local chapter president of the Alston Wilkes Society.
Hamilton is a member of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Orangeburg where he is a trustee, usher, and reporter for the church newsletter, and a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
