After the departure of former head coach Joe Mihalich following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, the Hofstra men’s basketball team has found their next leader in Craig “Speedy” Claxton. The decision was announced on Wednesday, April 7, and an introductory press conference was held on Thursday, April 8. Claxton will transition to the role of head coach from the assistant coaching position he has held with the Pride since 2014.
“I am honored and humbled to be leading this program into the future,” Claxton said in a media Zoom call following his introductory press conference on Thursday, April 7. “This was my dream job, and this means the world to me today to have that dream finally come true.”
The hiring of Claxton came as the culmination of an expansive, nationwide search, according to Vice President and Director of Athletics Rick Cole Jr.
“Every search is about trying to find the right fit, at the right place, at the right time,” Cole Jr. said. “We know we did that, but we were humbled by the interest [garnered by the head coaching vacancy].”
Claxton was a player for the Pride from 1996 to 2000, and in that time, he cemented himself among the Pride’s historically elite players. As the team’s point guard, he led the Pride to the America East Conference championship in 2000, granting the team a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament.
He is one of few players to score over 2,000 points in his career with the Pride, and he averaged 22.8 points per game in his senior season. He averaged double digits in scoring in all four of his seasons, and at the time of his graduation he led Hofstra in both career assists and steals with 660 and 288, respectively.
After being selected in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Claxton had an accomplished career in the NBA, highlighted by being a member of the 2003 NBA Championship-winning San Antonio Spurs. He had his best year in the league statistically as a member of the Golden State Warriors, as he averaged 13 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals per game in the 2004-05 season.
In 2010, Claxton’s number 10 was retired by the Pride, and he was inducted into the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame. Just three years later, Claxton returned to his alma mater as a special assistant to Coach Mihalich, and he was quickly offered a position as an assistant coach the following year.
As a member of the Pride’s coaching staff, Claxton helped lead the program to some of its most successful seasons. In the 2018-19 season, the team set a school record of 27 wins, and despite being upset in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship game, earned an entry into the National Invitational Tournament. The following season, Hofstra finished the job, claiming the CAA title and earning an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 2001.
“This is not a rebuild job,” Cole Jr. said. “This is a job that we can take – we hope – to even greater heights, and that’s our expectation with coach Claxton, is that we believe we are going to get to even greater heights.”
In the 2020-21 season, the Pride was led by then-acting head coach Mike Farrelly due to Mihalich taking a leave of absence. Hofstra finished with a 13-10 record in a season shortened due to COVID-19, and the Pride fell to Elon University in the semifinals of the CAA Championship tournament.
In his time on the Pride’s staff, Claxton has coached players such as Juan’ya Green, Justin Wright-Foreman and Desure Buie and worked with them to help develop their skills. As a point guard in his own playing days, Claxton’s tutelage proved especially helpful for the Pride’s young guards, as many showed significant improvements across their Hofstra careers.
“You’ve got to build your relationships with these kids, night in, night out,” Claxton said. “Most of these kids, [if] you’re loyal to them, they’ll be loyal to you, and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about.”
“I’ve walked in [our players’] shoes, and they know that,” Claxton said. “Whenever I talk to them, they can wholeheartedly accept what I’m saying and believe it, and the most important thing is that trust factor.”
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
