Miami is living his dream, and FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton will be cheering for the Hurricanes at the Final Four even if he doesn't plan to stop trying to beat them anytime soon
HOUSTON – The Miami dream was once his dream.
“Tell Jim to send me a piece of the net when he cuts it down,” Florida State basketball coach Leonard Hamilton says as he arrives in Houston, winding through downtown streets to find his hotel at the Final Four. “I think I deserve it because when I interviewed for the job at Miami (in 1990), they had the picture of the new arena and they didn’t build it until after I left.”
Hamilton, who departed after leading Miami to the Sweet 16 in 2000 to take the head coaching job with the Washington Wizards and then landed at FSU, chuckled in that traditional Coach Ham way.
If you are a FSU fan, you might want to stop reading this article at this point. Hamilton, who was inducted into the UM Hall of Fame in 2006, will be at NRG Stadium cheering for the Miami Hurricanes Saturday night and if things go well he will be there doing it again on Monday
“I was at Miami for 10 years,” Hamilton told CaneSport. “Yeah I’ll be cheering for the Canes.”
Hamilton’s rebuilding Seminole team played Miami twice this season. In the first game in Tallahassee January 24, Miami used an 18-0 early run to blow the Seminoles off the court, winning 86-63 to break a nine-game losing streak against Hamilton’s teams. But in the second game in Miami on February 24, FSU came back from a 25-point deficit and upset the Hurricanes off a buzzer-beater three-pointer by Matthew Cleveland.
“We lulled them to sleep,” Hamilton joked. “They got so far ahead and we became more determined and it was one of those things where we were able to come back.”
The truth is Hamilton has been a greater nemesis for Larranaga during his time at Miami than any other opposing coach including the legendary Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams.
Those battles with Miami this season give him a unique perspective on the Hurricane team that will play UConn in Saturday night’s late semifinal here. Hamilton and his staff have spent dozens of hours pouring over Miami tape, probing for weaknesses and ways to defend one of the most efficient offensive teams in college basketball.
“They have the right pieces that are difficult to match up with,” Hamilton said. “They are just a tough matchup. You have a 5 man (Norchad Omier) that is really athletic and can play big. But he is mobile enough that most big guys can’t keep up with him. And then you have four other guys out on the floor who all can handle the ball and create. So it creates a real challenge for the defense.”
There is more.
“And then when they aren’t beating you off the dribble, those four guys can all shoot. They are all quick and athletic with long arms. And they all play unselfish. That’s a real tough matchup for a lot of teams.”
Hamilton was one of the first people in the country to notice the trajectory the Miami program was on back in early 2022, before the Elite 8 run of a year ago. After preparing for the Hurricanes twice in a span of 11 days and winning both games by one-point, Hamilton sat inside the interview room inside the Watsco Center and said he thought Miami was a Final Four team.
The Hurricanes ended up 30 minutes away from that when they held a six-point halftime lead on eventual national champion Kansas in the Elite 8.
“Last year they added some pieces and they were similar to what they are this year,” Hamilton said. “The reason I said that was because I knew what was so challenging for us to defend. We always try to be difficult to guard also and we will get back there. But I saw that Miami had a uniqueness about them that is a challenge to defend and a challenge the other way as well.”
The way Hamilton sees it, Miami simply replaced Charlie Moore with Nijel Pack and Cam McGusty with Wooga Poplar. Add in Omier and you have a team that has been even better in 2023 than it was in 2022, that has beaten a No. 4 seed (Indiana), a No. 2 seed (Texas) and a No. 1 seed (Houston) on its way to the Final Four.
“I’m not surprised at all that they are here. I always saw this in Miami. They were better than us this year,” Hamilton said. “Jim has just taken it to another level. I am extremely pleased and happy for what they are doing.”
Hamilton has watched UConn and has his own opinions on the challenge Miami faces Saturday night.
“They have to keep Norchad out of foul trouble because of the big guy (Adama Sonogo),” Hamilton said. “But regardless Miami will be a challenge for Connecticut to defend because of all those multi- talented players who can shoot from the perimeter. They are a bad matchup for anybody. They have as good a chance as anybody here to win the national title because of the makeup of their team.”
Hamilton is thrilled at the changing landscape of basketball in the state of Florida with FAU a shocking participant at the Final Four.
“This is awesome for basketball in the state of Florida,” Hamilton said. “Wouldn’t it be great to have all four teams in the Final Four. This proves Florida schools can make it. It gets better every year.
“You look at the high school coaches, the AAU teams. When I started at Miami, I would see the BBQ grills and the pageantry for youth football. But basketball has built a lot of interest. I’ve seen the high school ball getting better. Now some AAU teams can really, really play.”
Hamilton can relate to Larranaga coaching well into his 70’s because he is 74 now while Larranaga is 73. Their contemporaries like Coach K and Roy Williams and now Jim Boeheim have all drifted into retirement. Hamilton keeps grinding every day to field the best team that he can each season, admitting he made some mistakes this past year in building his team. The Seminoles finished 9-23.
He is the most successful coach in Florida State history and is the fifth all-time winningest coach in ACC history after a 404-271 record in 21 years at FSU and a 604-481 record in 35 years as a college head coach.
“I’m good. I ain’t going nowhere,” Hamilton said. “I just do it because I love it. I don’t hunt. I don’t fish. I don’t golf. I’m here.
“Some guys have plans. If I don’t come out of the locker room at halftime and accidentally sit on the other teams bench because I don’t know where I am, then I’m here. Even if I don’t remember my players names, I can still say `No. 5 go in for No. 21.” So I’m here.”
But Saturday he will be cheering for the Canes.
