'That's how much he cares' ... Leonard Hamilton's impact obvious during final FSU celebration

As he watched Leonard Hamilton coach his final Florida State game, as he rooted for his all-time favorite coach to win one last time in the Tucker Center, Derwin Kitchen’s mind drifted back to a scene in this same arena 14 years earlier.

It was a victory not represented by numbers on a scoreboard, but by the parchment he would hold in his hand, and the impact it had on Hamilton.

“I remember seeing it on his face,” Kitchen said Saturday afternoon. “You don’t see him crying, but you could literally see the emotion. I remember that vividly. That’s how much he cares about his players.”

In some ways, Kitchen’s story was one of a kind.

As one of the nation’s top recruits following a brilliant career at Jacksonville’s Raines High, he originally signed with the Florida Gators but was ruled academically ineligible. He then moved on to St. John’s but was deemed to be ineligible there as well.

After resurrecting his career at Iowa Western Community College, Kitchen signed with Hamilton and Florida State, and he was finally cleared to play in December 2008. He would spend the next three years as the Seminoles’ starting point guard while leading them to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

He also became the first member of his family to graduate from college.

That last part of Kitchen’s story is not unique at all; it was similar to dozens of former Florida State players who returned to Tallahassee on Saturday for Hamilton’s final game — a 76-69 victory over SMU.

While some wore ACC championship rings, and others shared memories of tournament runs and upset victories, it was the impact Hamilton had on their lives away from basketball that seemed to resonate the most.

“It means the world,” said Kitchen, who brought his young family up from Tampa, where he retired following a lengthy pro basketball career overseas. “It means everything. It was too big of a moment to not come back. That’s the best coach I ever had — as a person, as a coach, the staff he put together, everything. From the top to the bottom, that’s the best coach I ever had in my life. And I’ve had a lot of coaches.”

As Kitchen finished that thought following Saturday’s postgame celebration, his wife was busy chasing after their 2-year-old twins, and their 7-year-old was running around the Tucker Center court with the children of other Florida State basketball alumni.

That was essentially the scene the entire weekend, as a celebration of Hamilton’s career turned into a massive multi-family reunion.

“Not only did they come, but they brought their families,” Hamilton said. “We had more kids running around shoot-around today … we were on one end trying to prepare for SMU, and all of them were down on the other end trying to shoot baskets. They had a train running up and down the steps.

“But that’s part of the rewards that you realize when you’ve been in the business as long as I have.”

The Seminole alumni in attendance overlapped from era to era and team to team.

There was Michael Joiner (2000-04), who is now an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. There was Isaiah Swann, who starred from 2004-08, and Solomon Alabi (2007-10), who brought his family in from Seattle. Jon Kreft (2010-12) was there, along with Montay Brandon (2012-16), now an assistant coach with Stetson men’s basketball. There were former teammates like Phil Cofer (2014-19) and Anthony Polite (2017-22), current Seminole Chandler Jackson (2022-now), and scores of others.

There were several other groups represented as well. On one end of the court were Hamilton’s teammates from his playing days at Tennessee-Martin from 1969-71. Some of his high school teammates from Gastonia, N.C., made the trip down as well, as did two of his former players from Kentucky (Sam Bowie and Dirk Minniefield), and several from Miami.

Several former Florida State stars from before his tenure, including Doug Edwards and Charlie Ward, and former head coach Pat Kennedy were also in attendance.

“That is somewhat overwhelming,” Hamilton humbly said of the turnout.

Some of the former Florida State players were making their first trips back to the Tucker Center in years, while others have been regular visitors. A common thread among most was they have stayed in regular contact with Hamilton and his longtime associate head coach, Stan Jones.

Especially the ones who have followed Hamilton’s steps into coaching.

“I bug Coach Ham a lot for advice,” smiled Brandon, who remembers Hamilton predicting years ago he would be a coach once he finished playing. “I bug Stan all the time too. They always answer my call, and I’m always appreciative of them.”

Joiner, who coached in the NBA G League before taking his current job in the WNBA, echoed those sentiments. He said he also carries lessons he learned from Hamilton two decades ago in various aspects of his professional and personal life.

“People remember you, whether it’s the janitors, the referees, to the coaches — people remember how you treated them and how you made them feel,” Joiner said. “Obviously, we were competitors out here. But we also tried to do everything the right way.”

Not surprisingly, when Hamilton was asked in his postgame press conference what has meant the most during a coaching career that spanned over 50 years, he said it was those relationships and the fact that 97 percent of his players who stayed four years ended up earning their college degrees.

As the first member of his family to attend and graduate from college, Hamilton knows first-hand the impact of that accomplishment. He said it was his going to college that inspired his brothers and sister to do the same. Then their children and countless nieces and nephews followed that example.

“It changed the whole culture of our family by me getting my education,” Hamilton said.

After he walked out of the Tucker Center media room for the final time as Florida State’s head coach, Hamilton then went to a nearby ballroom to celebrate privately with his family, friends, former players, former staff members and other well-wishers.

It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

A day that saw him walk off the court one last time a winner.

A day in which he finished his Florida State career with exactly 200 ACC regular-season victories, which ranks fourth all-time.

A day of smiles and hugs and a seemingly endless supply of love and gratitude.

A day decades in the making.

“All the players that made the sacrifice to come want to be here — part of this moment — was somewhat overwhelming to me,” Hamilton said. “I thought maybe I could block it all out and just stay focused on the game, but it seemed like every few minutes, someone had to have their moment and us reminisce about some of those things that we experienced along our journey. And then you start realizing how important those relationships were, and how meaningful it was to each individual.

“I came away with a sense of pride, but also realizing that that there are a lot of things that are much more important along the journey of being a coach that just wins and losses.”

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