| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 29, 1876 Huntsville, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 1951 (aged 75) Lawrence, Kansas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | William Jewell College |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Basketball | |
| 1898–1899 | William Jewell |
| 1906–1908 | William Jewell |
| 1909–1919 | Kansas |
| Track and field | |
| 1909–1918 | Kansas |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1911–1919 | Kansas |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 142–73 (basketball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Basketball 5 MVIAA (1910–1912, 1914–1915) | |
William Oliver Hamilton (March 29, 1876 – December 29, 1951) was an American basketball coach, track coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the third head basketball coach at the University of Kansas, coaching the Jayhawks from 1909 to 1919. Under Hamilton Kansas had its first All-Americans Tommy Johnson (1909), Ralph Sproull (1915), and Dutch Lonborg (1919) who would later be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Before coaching at Kansas, Hamilton was the coach at Central High School in Kansas City at the time Casey Stengel future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame was attending and played basketball as well as baseball. His basketball team won the city championship.[1][2]
Hamilton later worked as a car dealer in Lawrence, Kansas. He died there of December 29, 1951 at the age of 75.[3]