There is a sense of place one feels when at home. It is where a person is most comfortable — the epicenter of one’s life.
For Speedy Claxton, home has always been Hofstra.
The Hempstead native graduated from his hometown school in 2000, and after a successful NBA career and seven years as an assistant, Claxton will begin his next journey: Fulfilling a dream as the head coach of the Hofstra men’s basketball team.
“I have dreamt about this day since the moment I graduated,” Claxton told The Post. “I was lucky in life to live out a career — a dream career. Now I get a chance to live out a second dream.”
Claxton, 43, was named head coach on April 7, replacing Joe Mihalich, who missed the 2020-21 season due to unspecified health reasons. Mike Farrelly — now an assistant coach at Penn State — served as the acting coach last season with Claxton by his side.
But the program now belongs to Claxton. As the bench boss, he seeks to inform, influence and inspire his players — while taking them to new heights on and off the court.
“I will teach life lessons — different things that I have experienced in my life,” Claxton said. “If anything that happened to me can help these kids out, I will share it. What better tool is there to learn from than experience?”
Claxton’s time as a basketball player gave him the foundation he needed to lead the Pride.
He was a first-round pick by the 76ers in the 2000 NBA Draft and averaged 9.3 points, 4.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game over a seven-year run in the NBA.
The point guard learned plenty playing for coaching legends such as Gregg Popovich and Larry Brown — lessons he is ready to share with his players.
“My team wants to go to where I have been,” Claxton said. “They know I have the blueprint, and if they follow it, their dreams will come true, just like they did for me.
“We will compete at the highest level. Whether it is a game or practice, always put your best foot forward.”
Hofstra is where Claxton truly made his mark — perhaps the best and most popular player in school history, scoring 2,015 points and leading the Pride to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2000.
He finished his collegiate career as the program’s leader in assists and steals. For his contributions, he had his No. 10 jersey retired in 2009 before getting inducted into the school’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
“Hofstra is everything. Hempstead is everything,” Claxton said. “This is where I grew up. This is where I was born and raised. This is my community. Hopefully my community will get behind me [this season].”
While Claxton had success as an NBA scout for the Warriors after graduating, his heart always belonged in Hempstead.
When Mihalich was hired as head coach in 2013, Claxton approached him and asked to get involved (Claxton says that “players were getting into trouble and the program was not going in the right direction”).
There was no room on Mihalich’s coaching staff — he was bringing his assistant coaches over from Niagara, his previous stop, — so he made a new role for the Hofstra great: “special assistant to Coach Mihalich.”
Claxton packed his bags and came home.
Current Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune left Mihalich’s staff months later to become an assistant coach at Villanova — and Claxton immediately was promoted to his role.
“The rest is history,” Claxton said.
Claxton had an impressive tenure as an assistant coach. He mentored a trio of Hofstra guards who have started successful professional careers.
Justin Wright-Foreman averaged 1.6 points his freshman year before blossoming into one of the best players in program history under Claxton’s guidance and was drafted by the Jazz with the 53rd-overall pick in 2019.
Desure Buie had a similar story: He averaged 3.0 points per game his freshman year and finished his career winning the Colonial Athletic Association Championship Most Outstanding Player. The 24-year-old played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G-League last season.
Eli Pemberton, 24, joined Claxton as a 2,000-point scorer and played on the Santa Cruz Warriors (G-League) in 2020-21.
Not bad for a mid-major program.
“To see these kids come in as young boys and get better every year, and ultimately, to become pros and live out their dreams, that means everything,” Claxton said. “That’s why I came back — to help these kids make something of themselves.”
It is all coming together for Claxton. His daughter Aniya is a first-year student at Hofstra. Mihalich has a new role with the athletics department and is right down the hall. Jalen Ray — the team’s leading scorer last season — is returning as a graduate student with hopes of developing into the CAA’s best player.
But Claxton needs one more thing as he embarks upon his second dream.
“Hofstra nation, please come out and support us. We need you guys,” Claxton said. “We are going to put an amazing product on the floor. We need you to be the sixth man.”
