TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Longtime Florida State basketball coach Leonard Hamilton is stepping down on the finish of the season.
Hamilton, who’s being sued by six former gamers over allegations he didn’t ship on title, picture and likeness guarantees, introduced his choice Monday following a crew assembly.
“I’m very lucky to have the ability to have given this job my all with no regrets,” Hamilton mentioned in a press release. “Each head coach inherits a legacy and is obligated to depart the job higher than they inherited it. I’m very happy with what we’ve got been in a position to accomplish right here during the last 23 seasons.
“We had been a constant contender, and we created success for our gamers throughout their time right here. So a lot of them have gone on to achieve success in life. I hope that it will likely be remembered as my legacy.”
The 76-year-old Hamilton is the third Division I head coach to step down this season — all of them within the Atlantic Coast Convention. Virginia’s Tony Bennett stepped down simply earlier than the season started, and Miami’s Jim Larrañaga left this system in late December.
Hamilton ranks tenth on the NCAA’s listing of winningest lively DI coaches. He coached at Miami after which with the NBA’s Washington Wizards earlier than becoming a member of Florida State in 2002. He led the Seminoles to 16 postseason appearances and a dozen 20-win seasons.
FSU received the ACC Match title in 2012 after defeating Miami, Duke and North Carolina on consecutive days. The Seminoles additionally received the 2019-20 regular-season convention title earlier than the pandemic halted postseason play.
FSU has misplaced 4 straight video games, together with three on the street, and is 13-9 going into Tuesday night time’s residence matchup towards Notre Dame. Hamilton is within the ultimate 12 months of a contract that pays him $2.25 million yearly.
Hamilton led FSU to Candy 16 appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The 2019-20 crew was seen as amongst FSU’s greatest, and ESPN analyst Dick Vitale wrote a e-book about how the Seminoles would have received the nationwide title had it not been for COVID-19.
However because the journey to the Candy 16 in March 2021, FSU has missed the NCAA Match in addition to the NIT. The Seminoles have gone 56-62 within the 4 seasons since, together with an injury-riddled 9-23 marketing campaign in 2022-23.
Hamilton will coach FSU’s ultimate 9 regular-season video games and the ACC Match.
Whereas there have been struggles on the court docket, adjusting to the switch portal and producing sufficient NIL contributions to compete within the ACC, Hamilton has graduated almost all of FSU’s four-year gamers since arriving in Tallassee greater than twenty years in the past.
However the lawsuit has taken heart stage the final two months. The previous gamers allege Hamilton didn’t make good on a promise to get every of them $250,000 in NIL compensation.
The plaintiffs — Darin Inexperienced Jr., De’Ante Inexperienced, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley — filed swimsuit in Leon County Circuit Court docket in late December.
The gamers allege Hamilton promised them the cash from his “enterprise companions.” The lawsuit says they walked out of a apply final season over the missed funds and supposed to boycott a February 2023 sport towards Duke. They ended up enjoying — the Seminoles misplaced 76-67 — amid a assure from Hamilton that they might be paid however by no means had been, in keeping with the swimsuit.
“Coach Hamilton’s private character and integrity, and his management, set an incredible normal for all of FSU Athletics,” FSU athletic director Michael Alford mentioned. “Few individuals have been as essential in constructing the optimistic status of Seminole Athletics.”
Added faculty president Dr. Richard McCullough: “Leonard Hamilton is a beacon of sophistication and integrity whose management serves as an indelible instance that aggressive excellence, tutorial achievement and neighborhood service are attainable at a number one public establishment. Coach Hamilton’s legacy extends far past Tallahassee and school basketball. He is among the most revered and beloved ambassadors of FSU throughout the nation and in his career.”
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AP school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll
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