Florida State Seminoles men’s basketball head coach Leonard Hamilton will resign at conclusion of this season

TALLAHASSEE — Florida State men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton shared his intentions to resign from his position at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season on Monday. The University confirmed the news via a release. The regular season for the Seminoles, who are currently 13-9 (4-7 ACC), will conclude on Saturday, March 8th at home against SMU.

Hamilton has been guiding FSU Basketball since 2002. His tenure began on March 19, 2002. He is currently in his 23rd season with the Seminoles. He is 434-290 (.599) during his time as FSU’s head coach. He is 196-186 (.513) in ACC regular season games during that same span.

“I am deeply thankful for the tremendous support of our fans, alumni, and everyone associated with Florida State throughout my time here,” Hamilton said via release. “I am proud of the quality of the young men that it was my privilege to lead, for their faith in this program and in their belief in the philosophy that we tried to instill in them over the years. I have been blessed beyond words for the opportunity and the experience we’ve had here.

“My family and I truly love this place, this institution, and its people. I’m very fortunate to be able to have given this job my all with no regrets. Every head coach inherits a legacy and is obligated to leave the job better than they inherited it. I’m very proud of what we have been able to accomplish here over the last 23 seasons. We were a consistent contender, and we created success for our players during their time here. So many of them have gone on to be successful in life. I hope that it will be remembered as my legacy. I look forward to working with our administration during this transition and being as helpful as possible through this process.”

He won ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2009, 2012, and 2020. He received multiple National Coach of the Year honors during his time with FSU.

Hamilton will depart Tallahassee as the most successful coach in FSU Basketball history. He is the all-time winningest coach at FSU. He became the Seminoles’ winningest coach as Florida State defeated Pittsburgh on March 7, 2015.

Under Hamilton, the Seminoles won at least 20 games in 12 of his past 22 years and have advanced to the postseason in 16 of his 22 prior seasons at Florida State. FSU had a run of nine consecutive postseason appearances (NCAA and NIT) from 2006 to 2014).

Florida State has had at least one player selected in the NBA Draft in 14 of the last 22 seasons. He developed 19 NBA Draft selections at FSU, including nine first-round picks led by No. 4 overall selections Patrick Williams in 2020 and Scottie Barnes in 2021. He has coached 24 All-ACC selections, 13 ACC All-Defensive Team selections, four ACC Sixth Man of the Year recipients and two ACC Defensive Players of the Year.

Some career highlights and best seasons under Hamilton are discussed below:

In 2020, he led Florida State to the first ACC Regular Season Championship in school history. The Seminoles finished ACC play with a 16-4 record — the 16 wins established a school record for ACC wins in a season. The Seminoles finished the 2020 season ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press poll – the highest final national ranking in school history.

In 2019, he guided the Seminoles to a school-record 29 victories. The Seminoles’ 2019 team also defeated six nationally ranked teams, advanced to the ACC Tournament Championship game and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Coupled with the Seminoles’ appearance in the Elite Eight of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the 2019 season marked the second time in school history the Seminoles had advanced to at least the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.

In 2018, Florida State advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Hamilton and for only the third time in school history. The Seminoles finished with a 23-12 record, a 9-9 mark in ACC play, won the Jamaica Classic and played in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and for the sixth time in that 10-year period.

Hamilton led the Seminoles to the first ACC basketball championship in school history in 2012. He led the Seminoles to a school-record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, to a 12-4 record in ACC play, to a third consecutive third place finish in the ACC standings, to two wins each over Duke and North Carolina (two of the top four winningest programs in college basketball history), to wins over an ACC-leading six nationally ranked teams and to victories over each of the four Tobacco Road teams in the ACC (Duke, North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest) for the first time in school history. 

He enters Tuesday’s game against Notre Dame ranked fifth in ACC history with 434 overall wins, fifth in ACC regular season and ACC Tournament victories with 211, tied for ninth with 15 ACC Tournament victories, fifth among ACC coaches with 18 career NCAA Tournament victories, fourth in the ACC with 127 ACC homecourt wins, and sixth with 94 ACC road wins.

Hamilton needs just four regular season ACC victories to become just the fourth coach in the history of the ACC to win 200 regular season ACC games. He is the fourth-winningest coach in ACC history with 196 regular season victories and took sole possession of fourth place in the annals of the ACC with the Seminoles’ win over Syracuse on January 4th in Tallahassee.

Beyond his team’s on-court success, Hamilton’s players excelled in the classroom and graduated at an insanely high rate – 97 percent of Hamilton’s players who completed their eligibility earned their degrees and 20 student-athletes were named to the All-ACC Academic Team. His players stayed out of trouble. He developed players on the court and made them better men off of it, something he always wanted to celebrate more than wins. 

FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford also commented on Hamilton’s history with the Seminoles.

“Coach Hamilton’s personal character and integrity, and his leadership, set a tremendous standard for all of FSU Athletics,” Alford said. “Few people have been as important in building the positive reputation of Seminole Athletics. FSU’s stature as one of the leading brands in college sports has been possible, in part, to his leadership of our men’s basketball program. He steadily developed a culture of excellence that reflects his personal values: commitment to academic success, competitive success, community service, leadership, and ongoing personal excellence. The success of the men who have been part of our basketball program is proof of that legacy.” 

“Leonard Hamilton is a beacon of class and integrity whose leadership serves as an indelible example that competitive excellence, academic achievement and community service are attainable at a leading public institution,” said FSU President Dr. Richard McCullough. “Coach Hamilton’s legacy extends far beyond Tallahassee and college basketball. He is one of the most respected and beloved ambassadors of FSU across the nation and in his profession.”

Prior to being head coach at FSU, Hamilton also guided Miami from 1991 to 2000, going 144-147 (.495). He was also the head coach at Oklahoma State from 1987 to 1990, going 56-63 (.471) in that time. For his career as a head coach, he is 634-500 (.559). He has 37 total seasons as a collegiate head coach. In 37 seasons as a head coach, he earned 22 postseason bids, leading his teams to five Sweet 16 appearances, and three conference championships.

He was the Washington Wizards head coach in 2001.

He also has had stints as an assistant coach at Kentucky and Austin Peay State during his time in coaching, which began in 1971 as a graduate assistant at Austin Peay State.

FSU will now begin this search for the eighth head coach in men’s basketball history. Coinciding with the announcement of future resignation on Monday, Alford announced that the University will immediately begin a national search for Hamilton’s successor.