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The NCAA tournament is fast approaching and teams across the country are trying to find a winning recipe.
Richard “Rip” Hamilton, 48, helped propel UConn to a national title in 1999 and was named Final Four MVP. Hamilton also won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Hamilton said the key to going all the way was blocking out the noise, especially in the NIL era.
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Former Connecticut Huskies star Richard “Rip” Hamilton and other team members (not pictured) from the 1999 NCAA championship team were honored on the field during halftime between the Huskies and the Cincinnati Bearcats at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut on February 24, 2019. (David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)
“I think number one, you have to play your best nights, right? You just have to do it. You can’t have off nights. I think the most important thing for me and my teammates was to block out all the outside noise,” Hamilton told PK Press Club Digital in a recent interview with Red Baron.
“Because during the NCAA tournament, all the cameras in your state are facing you. The bright lights aren’t any brighter than they’ve ever been all season long. You have kids that have the potential to play in the NBA,” Hamilton said. “We don’t have time to talk about kids getting paid now, but you have agents and everything else right now telling you that, hey, you have to play this, you have to do this, you have to do that on the field. It’s all about the brand, the name, the image and the likeness of the players. So, you have to be able to block all that out to go out and do one thing. It’s just hoops.
“Because if you make hoops, if you win as a group, if you win as a team, you’re going to get all the individual accolades.”
Former UConn Huskies player Richard “Rip” Hamilton speaks to the crowd after his number was retired during the game between the Villanova Wildcats and the UConn Huskies at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut on February 24, 2024. (Williams Paul/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Hamilton is second on UConn’s all-time leading scorers list and during UConn’s championship run, he averaged 24.2 points per game. The three-time All-Star said his alma mater is the best university in college basketball and thinks this year’s team has a chance to win it all.
“We’re the best university in college basketball, period. Men’s and women’s. Let’s salute the women, too,” Hamilton said. “Dan Hurley has done a great job with this group. I mean, if you see their style of play, the way we play, the way we go up and down the court on both ends of the court, and we compete every night. Every game is our championship game. I think that’s what makes us special. We don’t really have off nights, so it’s not something when the tournament starts, ‘Hey, we have to prepare and we have to do something different than what we have been doing all season.
“I like our chances, man. We have a great, great group of guys. We play together. We do it as one. And we have probably the best leader in college basketball and that’s Dan Hurley.”
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Richard Hamilton (32) of the Connecticut Huskies looks on during the game against the Georgetown Hoyas at MCI Center. The Huskies defeated the Hoyas 78-71 in Washington, District of Columbia on January 25, 1999. (Jamie Squire / Staff)
Hurley led UConn to national titles in 2023 and 2024. However, while Hamilton’s UConn team is likely to be one of the heavy favorites this season, Hamilton said his favorite part of March Madness is watching the underdogs.
“I think my favorite thing is probably watching all the underdogs, right? I think people have watched college basketball all season long and everyone has their projected teams that are going to make it. But you never know,” Hamilton said.
“I mean, it’s a game. It’s not like the NBA Finals where, hey, if you have a bad night, you come out the next night and redeem yourself. In college basketball, man, it’s one and done. So, you have to be prepared. You have to go. You have to be ready to go. But also, the fans, like all the fans around the world, are locked in for five, six weekends to see who wins the national championship. I think it’s probably the most exciting time of the year in terms of basketball.
Many college basketball fans are getting “sick” and calling in to work so they can relax at home and watch the tournament action unfold. Hamilton spoke about Red Baron’s campaign of being a professional fan and getting paid to watch home games.
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Richard Hamilton (32) of the Detroit Pistons is in action against Tim Duncan (21) of the San Antonio Spurs during the NBA Finals in Auburn Hills, Michigan, June 14, 2005. (Manny Millan/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
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“You can sit on your couch, relax, you can eat Red Baron pizza,” Hamilton said.
Four people can apply to become a professional fan and sit on the couch and eat pizza on the Red Baron website, with pay being $100 an hour, as long as they sign up by March 12. The skills required for the professional fan application are an elite presence on the couch with an appetite for eating.
“During this time of year, guys usually come out and try to raise money from everyone to join everyone’s class. It’s a great opportunity where guys can go out, blow off some steam, hang out, sit on the couch, eat pizza and make $100,” Hamilton said.
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