| The Hamilton file |
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College: Minnesota
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Position: Center
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Height: 6-5
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Weight: 283
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Year: Senior
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The scoop: Turned down Playboy preseason All-America honors, but don't worry, he'll have plenty of other accolades to embrace.
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If Ben Hamilton had talked about being the best center in college football five years ago, people would have laughed. He barely weighed 220 pounds and was a Division II prospect.
During most of the recruiting period, the only Division I-A program that showed interest was Tulsa. That was a courtesy to Hamilton's father, Wes, a Tulsa alum who played for the Minnesota Vikings.
Right before signing day, however, the Gophers extended their last scholarship to Hamilton.
Now, Hamilton is the best player returning from last year's 18th-ranked team. A SportsLine.com first-team All-American, he's an Outland Trophy candidate.
And to say he's grown into his position and role would be an understatement.
He's now 6-5, 283, coming off a season in which he was charged with allowing one sack, and registered 69 knockdown blocks.
"If there's a center better than Ben Hamilton, I'd like to see him," Gophers coach Glen Mason said. "Last year, he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee a couple of days before the Illinois State game. That Saturday morning, we had to fight to keep him from playing."
Hamilton was back in the starting lineup a week later when the Gophers opened Big Ten play at Northwestern. They won 33-14 en route to their best Big Ten finish (5-3) since 1990.
Hamilton and the offensive line enabled the Gophers to break several offensive records in 1999, including most total yards of offense (4,922), rushing yards (2,726), yards per game (410.2) and yards per play (5.8).
Quarterback Billy Cockerham set the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback (831) and total offense (2,922), while tailback Thomas Hamner ran for 1,426 yards and won All-Big Ten first-team honors.
Though Hamilton has given up only two sacks in two seasons, his first love is run blocking. Despite his height, he has a knack for keeping his hips low and driving shorter defenders off the ball.
His favorite game last year was a 37-7 rout at Illinois when the Gophers ran for 367 yards.
"Everyone knew what we were going to do, but no one could stop us," Hamilton said. "Awesome."
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