Leonard Hamilton comments on his future at Florida State amidst worst season of 21-year tenure

Florida State's struggles on the hardwood have been tough to watch this season. Coming into the year, the Seminoles had to integrate eight new players into a group that finished three games over .500 in 2021-22. 

To say the least, things haven't gone according to plan. FSU lost two players who were expected to play major roles to significant knee injuries. Brown forward transfer Jaylan Gainey went down in the preseason while returning forward Cam'Ron Fletcher tore his ACL in early December.

The Seminoles limped out of the gate to a 1-9 record that included losses to Stetson, Troy, Siena, and Nebraska. Since then, the product has improved slightly as Florida State actually compiled a 5-4 start to ACC play. However, a stretch of five defeats in their last six outings has dropped the team down to 8-18 overall (6-9 ACC).

Despite the struggles, longtime head coach Leonard Hamilton doesn't sound like he's ready to move on from the program. In a recent interview with Jon Rothstein of College Hoops Today, Hamilton declared he'd be back on the sidelines at Florida State next year regardless of how the season comes to a close.

“I feel like I have more work to do here at Florida State,” Hamilton said to Rothstein. “I don’t play golf. I don’t hunt. I don’t fish. And I don’t like to travel.”

The 2022-23 season is Hamilton's 35th at the college level and 21st at Florida State. His worst campaign with the Seminoles so far was in 2004-05, when the team finished 12-19 overall and 4-12 in conference play. 

With games against Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech remaining on the schedule, there's no guarantee that FSU breaks double digits in the win column. Hamilton has only had four other seasons where he failed to guide his team to at least ten wins. That happened at Miami three times (1990-91, 91-92, 93-94) and once at Oklahoma State in his very first season as a head coach (1986-87).

Outside of the injuries to Gainey and Fletcher, true freshman guard Chandler Jackson missed eight weeks due to thumb surgery. International freshman forward Baba Miller was suspended by the NCAA for the first half of the season for receiving improper benefits years before he signed with Florida State.

“When I do retire, I want to have things in place where I feel like I can make more contributions to our society,” Hamilton said. “But I’m not at that point yet. There’s still more work to be done.”

Florida State will miss the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season unless the team wins the conference tournament.

Hamilton agreed to a five-year contract extension in 2021 that will pay him $2.25 million annually plus bonuses. The deal runs through 2024-25, when Hamilton will be nearly 77 years old.