Leonard Hamilton publicly addresses decision to resign from Florida State, role changing landscape played

For the first time since announcing his resignation, effective at season’s end, Leonard Hamilton publicly addressed his decision. He spoke with reporters following Florida State’s victory over Notre Dame Tuesday night.

Hamilton pointed out the amount of uncertainty in the changing college basketball landscape between NIL and the transfer portal, but said that wasn’t a major factor in his decision to step down. Instead, he said it came down to something simple.

Early names to watch to replace Leonard Hamilton

Hamilton saw a need for a new voice in the FSU locker room. As a result, resigning was not only for the better of the program, but also for himself.

“There comes a time when it’s just time,” Hamilton said. “I’m not gonna do like a lot of coaches – talk about the ills and what’s going on and all the challenges that we have. It’s just time.

“It’s time for Florida State basketball to have a new voice, it’s time for what’s best for Florida State and also, thinking what’s best for me.”

Leonard Hamilton: ‘My decision is based on how I feel’

News of Leonard Hamilton’s decision to step down comes as he’s at the center of an NIL-related lawsuit. Six former players filed a suit alleging he promised each of them $250,000 in NIL money, which they never received. That case is ongoing.

Multiple high-profile coaches stepped down since the beginning of the NIL era in 2021. In the ACC, particularly, Tony Bennett and Jim Larrañaga left Virginia and Miami, respectively, this season. Hamilton is the latest coach in the league to step down, joining the likes of Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim.

But Hamilton made it clear the new-look landscape isn’t the reason he’s resigning. That said, he still wants to know more about how we got here.

“The atmosphere that we’re dealing with now is interesting,” Hamilton said. “But nothing I say to you is going to change it. And I’m not one to give a whole lot of opinions about how I feel about this and how I feel about that because we all have opinions. If you talk about the climate of basketball, I have more questions than I have opinions, answers. I’m sure that the climate that we’re dealing with now, whoever is on that committee, they did a lot of research to come up with the atmosphere that we’re dealing with. I’m sure there were specialists in that room, psychologists, financial people. And they did a lot of research to make those decisions.

“I would just like to know what their thought process was so that I can get a better understanding of how we’re supposed to deal with what we’re dealing with now. For me to criticize it’s already done. For me to talk about how the challenge is, I’m sure they had a plan for us to follow to make it better because I’m sure there were a lot of intelligent, well-meaning people that have been a part of helping shape the decisions that have [shaped] the situation that we all are dealing with. … But none of that had a whole lot to do with my decision. My decision is based on how I feel. Those of you who know me, I think things through, and I really think it’s best for Florida State. Hopefully, it’s the best for me.”