James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at Florida State University. He is a former head coach at Oklahoma State University, the University of Miami, and for the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards. In his 33 years as a collegiate head coach, his teams have qualified for 12 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments and 11 National Invitation Tournaments, highlighted by appearances in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight (2018) and Sweet 16 (2011, 2019, 2021) with Florida State, as well as a Sweet 16 appearance with Miami (2000). Other career benchmarks include the Big East Conference regular season championship in 2000, the ACC tournament title in 2012 and the ACC regular season championship in 2020. While with the Wizards in 2000–01, they posted a 19–63 record.
Hamilton in 2013 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Florida State |
| Conference | ACC |
| Record | 450–282 (.615) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | August 4, 1948 Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1966–1968 | Gaston CC |
| 1969–1971 | UT Martin |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1971–1974 | Austin Peay (assistant) |
| 1974–1986 | Kentucky (assistant) |
| 1986–1990 | Oklahoma State |
| 1990–2000 | Miami (FL) |
| 2000–2001 | Washington Wizards |
| 2002–present | Florida State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 650–493 (.569) (college) 19–63 (.232) (NBA) |
| Tournaments | 14–11 (NCAA) 10–11 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Big East regular season (2000) ACC tournament (2012) ACC regular season (2020) | |
| Awards | |
| UPI National Coach of the Year (1995) 2× Big East Coach of the Year (1995, 1999) 3× ACC Coach of the Year (2009, 2012, 2020) Ben Jobe Award (2021) | |
Biography
editHamilton played college basketball at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Hamilton is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.[1] His brother, Ray Jones, coaches a minor-league team.
Hamilton was an assistant coach and associate head coach at the University of Kentucky from 1974 to 1986 under then-head coach Joe B. Hall. Hamilton was on the staff at Kentucky when it finished as the NCAA runner-up in 1975, won the 1978 NCAA Championship and went to the 1984 Final Four. He was a successful recruiter for Kentucky basketball, with players including Jack Givens, James Lee, Sam Bowie, and Melvin Turpin[2]
Hamilton was named ACC Coach of the Year on March 10, 2009, a second time in 2012,[3] and again in 2020.[4] Hamilton is the first coach to be named coach of the year in both the Big East and the ACC. In 2018, he was named the Clarence "Big House" Gaines National Coach of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.[5]
Head-coaching record
editCollege
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big Eight Conference) (1986–1990) | |||||||||
| 1986–87 | Oklahoma State | 8–20 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1987–88 | Oklahoma State | 14–16 | 4–10 | T–6th | |||||
| 1988–89 | Oklahoma State | 17–13 | 7–7 | T–4th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 1989–90 | Oklahoma State | 17–14 | 6–8 | 5th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| Oklahoma State: | 56–63 (.471) | 21–35 (.375) | |||||||
| Miami Hurricanes (NCAA Division I Independent) (1990–1991) | |||||||||
| 1990–91 | Miami | 9–19 | |||||||
| Miami Hurricanes (Big East Conference) (1991–2000) | |||||||||
| 1991–92 | Miami | 8–24 | 1–17 | 10th | |||||
| 1992–93 | Miami | 10–17 | 7–11 | 9th | |||||
| 1993–94 | Miami | 7–20 | 0–18 | 10th | |||||
| 1994–95 | Miami | 15–13 | 9–9 | 5th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1995–96 | Miami | 15–13 | 8–10 | 4th (Big East 7) | |||||
| 1996–97 | Miami | 16–13 | 9–9 | T–4th (Big East 7) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1997–98 | Miami | 18–10 | 11–7 | 2nd (Big East 7) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 1998–99 | Miami | 23–7 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 1999–00 | Miami | 23–11 | 13–3 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| Miami: | 144–147 (.495) | 73–87 (.456) | |||||||
| Florida State Seminoles (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2002–present) | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | Florida State | 14–15 | 4–12 | 9th | |||||
| 2003–04 | Florida State | 19–14 | 6–10 | T–7th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2004–05 | Florida State | 12–19 | 4–12 | T–10th | |||||
| 2005–06 | Florida State | 20–10 | 9–7 | 5th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Florida State | 22–13 | 7–9 | T–8th | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2007–08 | Florida State | 19–15 | 7–9 | T–7th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Florida State | 25–10 | 10–6 | 4th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Florida State | 22–10 | 10–6 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2010–11 | Florida State | 23–11 | 11–5 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2011–12 | Florida State | 25–10 | 12–4 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2012–13 | Florida State | 18–16 | 9–9 | 6th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2013–14 | Florida State | 22–14 | 9–9 | T–7th | NIT Semifinal | ||||
| 2014–15 | Florida State | 17–16 | 8–10 | 9th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Florida State | 20–14 | 8–10 | T–11th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2016–17 | Florida State | 26–9 | 12–6 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Florida State | 23–12 | 9–9 | T–8th | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 2018–19 | Florida State | 29–8 | 13–5 | 4th | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Florida State | 26–5 | 16–4 | 1st | Postseason cancelled due to COVID-19 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Florida State | 18–7 | 11–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Florida State | 17–14 | 10–10 | 8th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Florida State | 9–23 | 7–13 | 12th | |||||
| 2023–24 | Florida State | 17–16 | 10–10 | T–8th | |||||
| 2024–25 | Florida State | 7–1 | 0–0 | ||||||
| Florida State: | 450–282 (.615) | 203–178 (.533) | |||||||
| Total: | 650–492 (.569) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
NBA
edit| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 2000–01 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | 7th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | — | — | — | — |
Personal life
editHamilton is married to Claudette Hamilton. They have two children.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Fraternity alumni endow new scholarship at APSU".
- ^ Tucker, Kyle. "'The most important legacy': Joe B. Hall, with help from Leonard Hamilton, finally integrated Kentucky". The Athletic. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
- ^ "Turnaround Architect Hamilton Named ACC Coach of the Year". March 6, 2012. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ "Hamilton Named ACC Coach of the Year". 9 March 2020.
- ^ [1]. Seminoles.com. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- ^ Robb, Sharon. "WITH PRIDE AND PASSION FRIENDS SAY LEONARD HAMILTON NEVER QUITS, ESPECIALLY WHEN RECRUITING. SOUNDS LIKE THE MAN UM NEEDS". Retrieved 21 February 2020.