Leonard Hamilton agrees to extension to lead FSU Basketball
FLORIDA STATE ANNOUNCES CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR BASKETBALL COACH LEONARD HAMILTON
Florida State University Vice President and Director of Athletics David Coburn announced today that Florida State has extended the contract with head basketball coach Leonard Hamilton through the 2024-25 season.
“Coach Hamilton has done so much for this basketball program and this university that it is hard to express in words,” said Coburn. “What he does with his young men, both on and off the court, is truly remarkable. I know both the President and I regard him as a university treasure, and he is just now getting the national recognition he has deserved for so long. He embodies all the qualities that make a great leader, and we are proud and thrilled to have him as our coach as long as he wishes.”
Hamilton is the all-time winningest coach in Florida State history and the fifth winningest coach in ACC history. His Seminoles are currently 14-4 overall and in first place in the ACC with a 10-3 record. At No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 11 in the Associated Press poll, the Seminoles are the ACC’s highest-ranked team.
Hamilton is a three-time ACC Coach of the Year, having earned the award in 2009, 2012 and 2020.
In his 19th season as FSU, Hamilton has led the Seminoles to a pair of ACC Championships (2012 and 2020) and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Under Hamilton, the Seminoles have advanced to the postseason 14 times with trips to the West Regional Finals (2018) and West Regional Semifinals (2019) in their last NCAA appearances.
Hamilton’s student-athlete graduation rate of just over 95 percent at FSU will improve even more as eight members of his current team will earn degrees (seven as undergraduate degrees and one as a graduate degree) this spring. Two more players will earn graduate degrees in the summer of 2021.
“I’ve known Coach Hamilton since he was hired in 2002 when I was chair of the FSU Board of Trustees,” said Florida State President John Thrasher. “He exemplifies the best of college basketball in terms of developing outstanding players and great citizens. His ability to perform his job at such a high level of excellence is appreciated by the Seminole faithful, and we’re thrilled Coach Hamilton will continue to lead our program.”
Hamilton has been named the National Coach of the Year four times by four different national governing bodies. He was named the Clarence “Big House” Gaines National Coach of the Year in 2018, the Basketball Times Coach of the Year in 2009, the BCA National Coach of the Year in 2000 and the UPI National Coach of the Year in 1995.
Hamilton has been named the ACC Coach of Year three times and Big East Coach of the Year twice. He is the only person to earn Coach of the Year honors multiple times in both the ACC and the Big East and is currently a finalist for the 2021 Naismith National Coach of the Year Award.
“I am grateful for the support the Board of Trustees, President Thrasher and Director of Athletics David Coburn continuously show our program’” said Hamilton. “The extension of my contract means an awful lot to our basketball family and those coaches who have been with me throughout my career at Florida State. I would especially like to thank our assistant coaches, our trusted staff and their families – Coach Stan Jones, Coach Charlton Young, Coach Steve Smith and Coach Mike Bradley for everything they do for our program each day.
“I am also thankful to the parents who have entrusted us to bring their teenagers into our program and have them leave as young men when their careers are completed. I am also thankful for the cooperation of each of our players who have helped us build a successful basketball program.
“At Florida State, we are fortunate to play in the best basketball conference in the nation, one that is full of “blueblood” programs that have been successful for decades. Our focus on being the “newbloods” is something we take pride in when representing Florida State University.
“The way our players conduct themselves as student-athletes is, and continues to be, an incredible source of pride for our program, especially during this pandemic period. They have taken what it means to be true student-athletes to another level as they have remained focused and continued to make getting their degrees a priority.
“While I am proud of everything we have accomplished, there is still room for improvement, and we have so much more to accomplish.
“I would like to thank our students, our fans in Tallahassee and across the country for the support they have given us and to let them know that the best of Florida State Basketball is still to come.”
As the Florida State men’s basketball team continues one of the most successful runs in program history, the Seminoles are looking to lock up head coach Leonard Hamilton for what could be the final years of his decorated career.
Hamilton and the Seminoles have agreed to a five-year contract extension, a university source has confirmed with Warchant.com. The deal was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat as a five-year deal at his current annual salary of $2.25 million plus bonuses.
Hamilton, who is 72, has led the Seminoles’ program since the 2002-03 season and currently has them ranked No. 9 in the latest USA Today coaches’ poll.
Florida State was ranked No. 4 in the country at the end of last season, which was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.
FSU is 14-4 this season and 10-3 in the ACC. The Seminoles can clinch the regular-season conference championship this week with victories against Boston College at home and Notre Dame on the road.
FSU won the regular-season ACC title last season for the first time in school history. Hamilton led the Seminoles to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and the Sweet 16 in 2019.
The Gastonia, N.C., native has won numerous Coach of the Year honors in the ACC and the Big East, and he was named 1995 National Coach of the Year by United Press International.
WHO IS LEONARD HAMILTON
James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American basketball coach and the current men’s basketball head coach at Florida State University. He is a former head coach at Oklahoma State University, the University of Miami, and for the National Basketball Association‘s Washington Wizards. In his 30 years as a collegiate head coach, his teams have qualified for nine NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournaments and 11 National Invitation Tournaments, highlighted by appearances in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight (2018) and Sweet 16 (2011, 2019) with Florida State, as well as a Sweet 16 appearance with Miami (2000). Other career benchmarks include the Big East Conference regular season championship in 2000, the ACC Tournament title in 2012 and the ACC regular season championship in 2020. While with the Wizards in 2000-01, they posted a 19–63 record.
