When Hofstra University men’s basketball head coach Speedy Claxton notched his 100th career win earlier this season, the milestone came and went without much fanfare, at least from the Hofstra legend himself.
Claxton didn’t even know it had happened.
As the team walked toward the locker room following their win over Northeastern University, Hofstra’s trainer Evan Malings congratulated Claxton on the milestone – Claxton thought there had been a mistake.
“I see our trainer [Malings] telling him, ‘Speed, 100 wins. Congrats,’” Hofstra guard German Plotnikov said. “And I saw [Claxton] tell him, ‘Nah, I think I’ve got one or two more to get there.’ So, he definitely didn’t know it was happening.”
For Claxton, the accomplishment didn’t hold much weight; the number simply isn’t the point for him.
“Personally, not that much honestly,” Claxton said referring to what the milestone means to him. “I didn’t get into coaching for wins, per se. I truly got into it to help these kids achieve their dreams and goals and just make them better players.”
That mindset has quietly shaped one of the most successful coaching starts in Hofstra basketball history.
Claxton’s relationship with Hofstra started long before he began racking up wins from the sideline.
He arrived in Hempstead as a player recruit in the late 1990s and found Hofstra to be the perfect fit.
“What brought me here as a player was the relationship I had with the coaching staff,” Claxton said. “Jay Wright, Tom Pecora [and] Joe Jones, those guys recruited me extremely hard. This is where I felt like … home.”
Claxton went on to become one of the most decorated players in program history. He earned national recognition and became a first-round pick in the NBA Draft. He played a decade in the league and won an NBA championship.
Coaching, however, was never part of the original plan.
The trajectory of his career changed late in his playing career during a conversation with legendary NBA coach Don Nelson while Claxton was with the Golden State Warriors.
“He pulled me to the side after practice and asked if I ever thought about coaching,” Claxton said. “I said, ‘Not really.’ But when a Hall of Fame coach like [Nelson] says something like that to you, you start thinking about it.”
Still, the transition didn’t happen immediately. Claxton initially joined Golden State’s front office as a scout. But when Joe Mihalich became Hofstra’s head coach in 2013, Claxton saw an opportunity to return to the program that had shaped him.
“That’s when I pivoted,” Claxton said. “I spoke to [Mihalich] and asked if I could get into the fold here.”
Claxton spent eight seasons as an assistant coach before becoming Hofstra’s head coach in 2021. As he adjusted to the role, he began seeing the game from an entirely different perspective.
“It’s a lot harder coaching than it is playing,” Claxton said. “As a coach you think players should be able to do things, but then you’ve got to remember they’re still kids and they’re still learning. So, you really have to teach every detail.”
Once Claxton was named head coach, he assembled a strong supporting cast and built a coaching staff that shared his vision of prioritizing player development. Associate Head Coach Mike DePaoli was brought into the fold at the start of Claxton’s tenure and has been here ever since.
In five years, DePaoli has watched the Hofstra Hall of Fame player evolve from a first-time head coach to a leader in full command of a program on the rise.
“The thing that always stands out about [Claxton] is he’s very comfortable in his own skin,” DePaoli said. “Whether we win by 20 or lose by 20, he’s the same guy every single day.”
That consistency, DePaoli says, sets the tone for the entire program.
“When a coach’s identity is tied so closely to wins and losses, you can feel that anxious energy,” DePaoli said. “But [Claxton’s] temperature never changes. That allows everybody in the program to feel comfortable.”
The collaborative atmosphere extends throughout the coaching staff as well.
“You never feel like you’re working for him,” DePaoli said. “You feel like you’re working with him.”
Claxton’s philosophy is simple: focus on development, and the wins will follow.
Over the past several years, Hofstra has become known for producing high-level players, including stars like Tyler Thomas, Aaron Estrada and Cruz Davis.
Players like Thomas and Estrada came into the program from bigger schools, barely scratching the surface of their true ability. Both of those players blossomed under Claxton and company. Both players captured Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year awards with Estrada winning two in back-to-back seasons.
Davis, the Pride’s go-to scorer all season, won CAA Player of the Year for the 2025-2026 season, giving Claxton a Player of the Year winner in four of his five seasons as head coach.
“Just the development of guys stands out the most,” Claxton said. “We’ve had a number of ‘players of the year.’ That’s what it’s all about: developing our guys and getting better every year.”
There is a common denominator between the Player of the Year winners: they are all point guards, which is the same position Claxton once played at Hofstra, where he dominated and carved his path to the NBA.
“It’s easy because I’ve played that position my entire life,” Claxton said. “We say this is ‘GuardU.’ This is a guard-driven system.”
For the players, having a coach with Claxton’s resume carries weight.
“He doesn’t need to be doing this right now,” DePaoli said. “The guy made a lot of money playing in the NBA, but he’s here because he wants to help these kids maximize who they are.”
Four-year program veteran Plotnikov has only ever known Hofstra as home. The guard from Minsk, Belarus, has Claxton’s fingerprints all over his development as a player.
“He always tells me to stay confident,” Plotnikov said. “It doesn’t matter if you make eight shots or miss 10 in a row. Stay confident. That doesn’t change what kind of player you are.”
Among Claxton’s first 100 wins, one game stands above the rest.
A victory over Rutgers University in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) during the 2023 season remains the most memorable for Claxton and his team.
The win came on the road in a packed arena against a high-major opponent that had just missed the NCAA tournament.
“It kind of had that ‘300’ feel to it,” DePaoli said. “There’s a sea of red, and it’s just us. But we kept finding a way.”
For Plotnikov, the atmosphere made the moment unforgettable.
“You walk in, and all you see is a sea of red,” Plotnikov said. “And then you look behind our bench, and there are just two rows of blue and gold. When we won, it was chaos. Everybody was hugging each other on the court.”
The 100-win milestone is impressive, especially considering how quickly Claxton reached it. Those within the program say the number is simply a reflection of the culture he’s built.
“The beauty of the 100 wins is that he doesn’t care about 100 wins,” DePaoli said. “Winning is a by-product of doing things the right way.”
For Claxton, his ultimate goal is bigger.
“Go to the tournament,” Claxton said. “Once I get to the tournament, I would have done everything I needed to do here.”
Until then, the focus remains the same as it was on day one: develop players, build a program and prepare for the next game. The wins, as they have for the first 100, will take care of themselves.
