Leonard Hamilton
Hamilton in 2013 | |
| 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 |
| 2002–2025 | Florida State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 660–506 (.566) (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) | |
James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American former basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Florida State University from 2002 to 2025. 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 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, and 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. Hamilton is the winningest coach in school history at Florida State and one of only four coaches to have 200 regular season ACC wins.