TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State has signed men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton to a three-year contract extension through the 2016-17 season, the school announced Wednesday.
In 2012, Hamilton guided Florida State to the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title. He is 219-143 in 11 seasons at Florida State and has twice been named ACC coach of the year.
Florida State administrators wanted to give Hamilton, 64, an extension after the 2011-12 season but were not able to due to budget reasons. But now they have extended a deal with Hamilton for the long term, keeping a coach that has had eight straight winning seasons.
Hamilton will make $2 million annually at the start of a contract that will escalate to $2.25 million annually. There are other incentives tied to postseason success.
"I am extremely thankful to President Eric Barron and our administration for allowing us to continue to build upon the foundation that we have worked so hard to put into place in my first 11 years at Florida State," Hamilton said. "We are excited for our university and our basketball program as we enter a new era in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is now the best league in the history of college basketball."
The ACC will add Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame in 2013-14, giving the league arguably one of the top basketball conferences in the nation.
Florida State has been able to elevate itself to one of the top basketball programs in the ACC since Hamilton’s arrival in 2002. During the 2011-12 season, the Seminoles upset Duke and North Carolina twice. Florida State reached the NCAA Tournament in four straight seasons before ending up in the NIT in 2013.
"As we enter a new era of ACC basketball, there is nobody better to lead this program into the nation's toughest conference than Leonard Hamilton," interim athletics director Vanessa Fuchs said. "We are all looking forward to future success with Leonard continuing to build on the strong foundation he has established here in Tallahassee."
Contact Bob Ferrante at bobferrante17@gmail.com or on Twitter @bobferrante
