Justin Hamilton said he wanted to be closer to home when he left Iowa State. So he went back through the recruitment process, hoping to land somewhere nearer to Alpine, Utah. He touched down farther away than anyone expected. Much farther. Hamilton chose to continue his collegiate career at LSU — 1,683 miles from Alpine and 1,029 miles from Ames, Iowa, where Iowa State is located. LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson waved his recruiting wand to snatch Hamilton, a 6-feet-11-inch, 260-pound center. The addition only strengthens Johnson’s already impressive incoming recruiting class. “I wanted to be closer to home, but it didn’t work out that way when I was getting recruited,” Hamilton said. “I knew how [Johnson] developed big men, and when I went down to LSU and saw all the facilities and how the University is, I loved it. I really wanted to be a part of the program.”Johnson does have an impressive track record with big men. Two notables include the Lopez brothers — Brook and Robin — who starred at Stanford under Johnson. Brook currently plays for the New Jersey Nets, and Robin plays for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. Johnson is excited to have Hamilton around. “He’s bigger than anybody we have in the program,” Johnson said. “Plus his skill level is fantastic. I’m just trying to get as many good players in here as possible. He would give us some strength and bulk in the post. Balanced is the word I want to use. He gives us that.”Hamilton originally hails from Lone Peak High School, a school he led to a 23-2 record and the Utah 5A state title game his senior season. He headed to Ames after that. The forward played immediately. Hamilton played in 32 contests, starting 18 of those games, and averaged 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.6 minutes of action per game. He stepped into the starting center role the next season in 2009-10. A 61.7 clip from the field led to 6.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for Hamilton during the Cyclones’ disappointing 15-17 campaign last season. “Obviously, he’s a guy who’s played two years of basketball in the Big 12 with some of the best players in the country,” Johnson said. “He’s battle tested. He’s not a high school kid. He’s a man coming in out of college.” Hamilton had his pick of schools the second time around. The lure of Johnson’s coaching and the Baton Rouge area were apparently enough to overcome any homesickness. His final decision came down to LSU and Virginia. “BYU would have loved to have had him,” said Quincy Lewis, Hamilton’s high school coach at Lone Peak. “So would Utah State. UCLA, Cal, all those people wanted him to come on trips and would have offered him on the spot.” Johnson was modest about his recruiting ability. He credited Hamilton for recognizing the LSU opportunity. “Well, he’s smart,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how much convincing I did. He saw the opportunity he had to come down here and make an impact. He got a great feel of what was going on with the staff and with [junior forward] Malcolm [White].”White’s presence was another key cog in Hamilton’s decision. Hamilton will have a similar experience to White, who sat out last season because of eligibility rules. “It was nice to talk to him because he was in a similar situation,” Hamilton said. “I’m going to be doing the same thing he’s doing.”Hamilton and Johnson weren’t unfamiliar with each before the center’s decision to transfer. Johnson, while coaching at Stanford, saw Hamilton play at Lone Peak while recruiting Tyler Haws, Hamilton’s teammate. Haws chose BYU, leading Johnson to think it was an unsuccessful visit. But it apparently paid off. “I don’t know much about LSU, but I do know Trent Johnson, and I like Trent,” Lewis said. “He’s a good guy, and he does a good job with bigs.” Hamilton will finish the semester before heading to Baton Rouge to participate in summer conditioning. “I’m really excited,” Hamilton said. “I haven’t been this excited since getting out of high school.”—-Contact Chris Branch at [email protected].