Leonard Hamilton has achieved in rebuilding Florida State. Now he's trying to make the Seminoles a perennial fixture on the collegiate basketball scene.
The Seminoles have won 20 or more games in five of the last six years, including the past three seasons. They capped that run by advancing to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament before losing to upstart VCU in overtime last Friday.
''We're not surprised that we were in a position to go to the Elite Eight,'' Hamilton said in summarizing the season. ''Over the last six years we've consistently gotten better, and that's one reason we are where we are.''
During that time, Florida State is 131-69. In the last three seasons they're 70-31, including 31-17 in the ACC, trailing only traditional powerhouses Duke and North Carolina. The Seminoles have earned a bye in first round ACC tournament in each of the last three seasons.
It's paid off in attendance that has swelled by an average of more than 4,000 fans a game since Steve Robinson's last season in 2001-02. The average of 9,327 this season also surpassed the previous high of the 1992-93 team that reached the Elite Eight.
With a veteran team returning, Hamilton is confident that better times are ahead.
''We're not going to be satisfied just going to the Sweet 16,'' Hamilton said. ''The future is bright for us.''
And with more fans, expectations are also heightened.
Tallahassee attorney Brian Bibeau, a season ticket-holder since 1979, was thrilled with the season in spite of the heartbreaking loss to VCU.
''We're on the way up,'' said Bibeau, who noted that it was only a few years ago when the Seminoles were ''the laughingstock of the ACC.''
Indeed, Hamilton inherited a program in shambles in 2002. The Seminoles were 46-72 the previous four years and 21-43 in league play.
Bibeau, who went to law school at Duke, is rabid about ACC hoops and glad to see the Seminoles competitive again.
''Those teams don't want to see us come into their house anymore,'' he said. ''Thy don't want any part of us. We've got a senior team next year. Let's lay it on some people.''
The Seminoles lose one senior, Derwin Kitchen, although junior forward Chris Singleton - the team's top scorer and rebounder - is expected to leave early for the NFL draft.
Everyone else returns, starting with a giant front line made up of 6-foot-10 Bernard James, 6-11 Xavier Gibson and 7-footer Jon Kreft. They'll be joined by guards Deividas Dulkys and Luke Loucks in next season's senior class.
Rising sophomores Okaro White and Ian Miller, and juniors Terrance Shannon and Michael Snaer, provide the remainder of the returning nucleus.
All eight returners played extensively during the season.
Hamilton's recruiting class includes the North Carolina high school Player of the Year, Terry Whisnant, an outside shooter who averaged 31.7 points this season. He also signed forward Antwan Space from DeSoto, Texas, guard Aaron Thomas from Cincinnati and junior college center Kiel Turpin, son of the late Kentucky great, Mel Turpin.
After three straight trips to the NCAA tournament, Hamilton believes the Seminoles are on the precipice of becoming a perennial factor in the ACC and nationally.
But it's getting to that top step that's difficult.
Former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden had good teams - really good teams - for several years and seemed to fall just short of winning a national championship before finally breaking through. Now, Hamilton is in a similar position.
''Our goal is to reach our potential,'' he said. ''Then we will accept what happens.''
Bowden's patience paid off in 1993 when he won the first of two national championships in the wake of a half dozen near misses. That came in his 18th season at Florida State. He added another national title six years later.
It'll be 40 years next season since the Seminoles made it to a Final Four, when they lost to UCLA in the 1972 national championship game.
Could Florida State do it again?
''We still have a lot more in the tank,'' Hamilton said. ''We can be an improved basketball team.''
