Leonard Hamilton makes definitive statement on coaching future, future plans

Whenever coaches decide to step down in college basketball, there’s always that ounce of uncertainty of whether or not they will actually walk away from the game for good. People still have questions whether or not FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton wants to be a college basketball coach.

And in his recent press conference, he left no doubt that he’s done for good.

“No absolutely not.” Hamilton said on whether or not he was going to change his mind on retirement. “I think it’s best for me. I think it’s best for the University. I think it’s time. And I don’t have any regrets at all. I want to move on and try to be a part and still contribute in some way. But once the season’s over then I’ll sit down and kind of map out what I think should be my path. But I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. I’m just foolish enough to think we can do some magical things here once we get to the ACC Tournament.”

In the upcoming ACC Tournament, the No. 11 seed Seminoles will face the No. 14 seed Syracuse Orange in the first round on Tuesday in Charlotte. Then, we’ll see what kind of damage FSU can do from there.

Regardless, the Seminoles’ head coach can rest easy knowing that was the all-time winningest coach in Tallahassee and by a significant margin. Before he arrived, FSU had four straight losing seasons. Hamilton just had three losing seasons in 23 years and one in in his last 20. He’s also fifth all-time in ACC history in wins, just behind Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Roy Williams, and Gary Williams.

Hamilton began his tenure in Tallahassee back in 2002. Since then, he’s led the Seminoles to immense success, like an Elite Eight appearance during the 2017-2018 season. He’s won over 450 games with the program, but the last few seasons have been tough on the program.

They’ve fallen short in many aspects, and even though Hamilton has been able to steady the ship a bit, they haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since a run to the Sweet 16 during the 2020-2021 season. Now, Florida State will move in a different direction, with their leader of over two decades moving on.

Before taking his talents to Florida State, Hamilton spent a decade with the Miami Hurricanes, where he amassed 144 wins and brought them to a Sweet 16. Before that, Hamilton was with the Oklahoma State Cowboys for four seasons, where he won 56 games in Stillwater.

On3’s Steve Samra also contributed to this article.