A.D. Michael Alford: FSU moving 'quickly' on basketball coaching search

The job had only been open for about 24 hours, and some of his top candidates will likely be coaching for another month or more, but Florida State athletics director Michael Alford said Tuesday night he is looking to move quickly with his men’s basketball coaching search.

One day after longtime head coach Leonard Hamilton announced he will resign following this season, Alford said Florida State is already seeing strong interest in the position.

“It’s an attractive job,” Alford said. “And it’s an attractive job because of Leonard Hamilton. They know that the program is in a good place. They know that it’s supported. They know that we care about this sport here. We want to be successful. But I will go back to [the statement] that any coach that’s interested in this position is interested in it because of him and 23 years. And they know they’re going to inherit something that’s in a good spot.”

When asked what led to Hamilton announcing his looming resignation on Monday — two days after Florida State suffered its fourth consecutive loss — Alford said it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. He said he and Hamilton had been talking about the future of the program for quite some time, as he does with all of his coaches.

“Just continuing that conversation of where we’re heading, what’s best for you, what’s best for us,” Alford said, adding that he and the Seminoles’ entire athletics department is grateful for Hamilton’s contributions. “Just the respect I have for him and what he’s meant to this university and what he’s meant to this program — but more importantly, what he’s meant to the countless number of student-athletes that have come through here — is just truly remarkable. …

“We’re going to look forward. We’re going to move the program forward. Try to do it as quickly as [we] can. No promises [on a time frame], but we’re just looking to move the program forward.”

Hamilton, who is in his 23rd season at Florida State, declined to go into specifics about his decision to resign. But after leading his Seminoles to a 67-60 win over Notre Dame on Tuesday, he sounded at peace with it. And he said he wasn’t going to blame it on all of the upheaval in college sports, including the transfer portal and runaway NIL budgets.

“There comes a time when it’s just time,” he said. “I’m not gonna do like a lot of coaches — talk about all the ills of 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. And it’s time for what’s best for Florida State, and I also think it’s what’s best for me.”

Several of the expected candidates for the position have Florida State ties — including former FSU players and current NBA assistant coaches Sam Cassell and Luke Loucks, and former assistant coach Charlton Young — and Alford said that familiarity with the program could be helpful. But he added that it’s not essential.

“Bringing in someone that’s familiar with Florida State’s a possibility, or bringing in someone [from the] outside,” Alford said. “It’s more about finding the right fit for us in the culture that we’ve developed here amongst the athletic apartment, amongst the university. … That’s more important than anything else.”

When asked what he’s looking for in a head coach, Alford said he wants someone who will win at a high level while also “doing things the right way,” graduating players, having high character and being a positive part of the community.

Because the college basketball regular season won’t conclude for another month, followed by conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament, Alford has a good bit of time to work through the selection process.

But with the transfer portal for basketball opening on March 24, Florida State would like to move as quickly as possible so that the new coach has time to evaluate potential transfers, and the current FSU players have a chance to make their own decisions.

“We have an obligation to these young men to know what the future is gonna be holding for the program and the university,” Alford said. “So that did play a key role.”

Some conversations with candidates and their representatives will be ongoing in the coming days and weeks, but Alford he will be willing to wait until after the college season is complete for the right candidate.

He referenced his hiring of Florida State baseball coach Link Jarrett in the summer of 2022, when the Seminoles waited for Jarrett’s Notre Dame team to finish its run at the College World Series in Omaha.

“I never spoke to Link until he was finished, and I really didn’t speak to him until about 24 hours after he was finished,” Alford said. “Because it’s tough walking off the field at Omaha. It’ll be tough walking off the field or off the court in an NCAA tournament game. … I respect they have a job to do, they have a program to lead at that time. But as soon as it’s over, I would like to have a quick conversation with them, so it depends on who we’re targeting and where they are in the process.”

Alford also said he doesn’t believe uncertainty surrounding the Seminoles future home for athletics — Florida State is currently suing to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference — will dampen interest in the position.

“I can tell you right now, the people that have reached out, it’s still Florida State,” Alford said. “It’s still the Florida State Seminoles. It’s one of the top brands in the country. … People want to be a part of it. And you look at it, there’s only so many instances you can be a part of a brand like this, have that holistic approach that we have and win across the board, and be a top-25 public institution in America. And get to live in beautiful Tallahassee. I mean, we have everything going for us in the right way. So therefore there is a lot of interest in this position.”

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