Exchanging of the guards
Thirteen years ago, Craig “Speedy” Claxton was on his way out of basketball and unsure of what the future held, as he missed his third straight NBA season dealing with a slew of leg injuries and grappled with the fact that his career on the court could be over. Fast forward to 2023, and Hofstra’s prodigal son is on the precipice of history, as Claxton will attempt to coach his alma mater to a conference championship and their first NCAA tournament bid since 2001 next week in Washington, D.C.
Claxton now spends his days engineering Hofstra guards into college basketball’s brightest stars and coaching the Pride to victory at a historic pace with an unprecedented 44-19 record thus far on the sidelines.
Claxton’s rise to success in the realm of coaching has been nothing short of meteoric, something that he accredits to the lengthy catalog of legendary coaches he spent time learning from throughout his career and the winning culture he has established thus far in his young tenure at Hofstra.
While his coaching pedigree tends to garner the spotlight, Claxton’s journey with the Pride began long before many of his current players were even born. Claxton spent four years in Hempstead playing out his college career under the tutelage of Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright and set program records in assists and steals throughout his illustrious career at Hofstra.
Claxton then continued on to the NBA, where he was selected 20th overall in the 2000 NBA Draft and became one of 14 players in Hofstra history to make the jump to the association.
Throughout his 10-year career in the pros, Claxton played under some of the game’s most legendary coaches, the most notable of which was San Antonio Spurs head coach and NBA all-time wins leader Gregg Popovich. Throughout his time in San Antonio, Claxton gained invaluable experience learning from the Basketball Hall of Famer that he would later use on the sidelines at Hofstra long after the conclusion of his playing days.
“Coach Popovich always taught me to treat the first and last guy on the bench the same way,” Claxton said. “By getting on the best guy just like you get on the worst, that’s how you earn respect in a locker room.”
As he approached the end of his playing career, Claxton began to deal with a plethora of injuries to his knee and hamstring, ultimately meaning his playing days were now numbered. During his final year in the league, a conversation with then-Golden State Warriors head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Don Nelson would change the trajectory of Claxton’s career forever.
“Don saw how I was interacting with the players and said I was like a coach on the floor,” Claxton said. “He told me I would make a hell of a coach, and if you’ve got a Hall of Famer telling you that, it should be a no-brainer.”
After joining the Hofstra coaching staff as a special assistant to head coach Joe Mihalich in 2013, Claxton’s impact on the sidelines was instantaneous, especially at the guard position. A number of Hofstra guards blossomed into superstars under the guidance of Claxton, including Hofstra legends such as Justin Wright-Foreman, who would go on to win the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year on two separate occasions and lead the Pride to a conference title in 2020.
Claxton also oversaw the development of guards Desire Buie and Eli Pemberton, who both eclipsed 1,200 points at Hofstra and won conference titles with the Pride as well.
“I just teach my guards to be a leader on the floor,” Claxton said. “At the guard position, it’s all about being one step ahead of the play, and that’s what we try to build in them.”
Since being named head coach of the Pride in 2021, Claxton’s prolific pedigree at the guard position hasn’t stopped growing, with stars such as Tyler Thomas, Jaquan Carlos, Darlinstone Dubar and reigning CAA Player of the Year Aaron Estrada all putting up career numbers for the Pride this season.
Claxton’s deep arsenal of guards has taken college basketball by storm this season, and propelled Hofstra to the top of the CAA in offensive efficiency and true shooting percentage by a wide margin.
Each of Claxton’s prodigies at the position serves a unique role on the team and fits into the lineup differently, and the epitome of this notion is Carlos, who averages six points, four rebounds and five assists per game this season on just 15.5% of possessions used. Carlos takes just 11% of the team’s shots, yet ranks among the 100 most efficient players in college basketball since the beginning of conference play. Carlos’ role on the Pride is unquestionably peculiar, but he credits his head coach with helping him find his mantle as the team’s primary facilitator.
“Speedy has preached a lot of leadership to me and really taught me how to be a leader on the floor,” Carlos said. “Just being a point guard, you have to be a leader for your team, pave the way and set the tone for the offense.”
While Claxton’s on-court product is undeniable, a coaches’ impact is so much bigger than basketball and is often best illustrated in the culture he builds within his program.
“Culture is everything,” Claxton said. “Last year, I just tried to amass as much talent as possible, but this year it was about finding the right guys and building that perfect culture.”
When Estrada spoke about all the things he’s learned from Claxton, he raved at length about all his head coach has taught him off the court.
“He’s taught me all about being consistent with my work ethic, he preaches about that a lot,” Estrada said. “If you work hard, all the other stuff will work itself out, and it shows. That’s something that’s stuck out to me and I’ll always remember.”
That same work ethic has undoubtedly made the Pride a model program in the CAA, as Claxton recently became the second coach in Hofstra history to win 20 or more games in each of his first two seasons. Claxton acknowledged Mihalich for piecing together the winning culture currently in place at Hofstra and says the former Pride head coach left him with the perfect blueprint to follow.
“Culture-wise, we just picked up right where Coach Mihalich left off,” Claxton said. “He did an outstanding job, so for us it was about keeping it going.”
Overall, it can be easy to dwell on the present and look ahead to the future as the Pride prepares to play for conference gold next week, but one must acknowledge all that has happened in the past to elevate the program to this point.
In the end, Claxton’s trials and tribulations at all levels of the game have fortuitously paved the way for him to build something special back where his basketball journey began, as he sits just three wins from making history with his alma mater.
Although his resume as a coach is eye-catching, a look beneath the flashy sneakers and extravagant, emphatic coaching style will show Claxton’s true place with the Pride as a teacher and keen developer of character.
The accolades that Claxton already held at Hofstra were impressive enough. Now, in just his second year as head coach, Hofstra’s prodigal son has added to his pedigree and has undeniably built something special in Hempstead.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
