Seminoles’ Hamilton signs 5-year extension
Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton has agreed to a fiveyear contract extension that will keep the men’s basketball coach with the school through 2025.
The new agreement went into effect in February and runs through April 30, 2025. The deal is worth $11.25 million in guaranteed money, as first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat’s Curt Weiler.
“The extension of my contract means an awful lot to our basketball family and those coaches who have been with me throughout my career at Florida State,” Hamilton said. “I would especially like to thank our assistant coaches, our trusted staff and their families — Coach Stan Jones, Coach Charlton Young, Coach Steve Smith and Coach Mike Bradley for everything they do for our program each day.
“While I am proud of everything we have accomplished, there is still room for improvement, and we have so much more to accomplish.”
Hamilton, 72, is wrapping up his 19th season with the Seminoles, who sit atop the latest ACC standings with a record of 14-4. In his nearly two decades with the program, Hamilton has accumulated a record of 395-225 (.637) with seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
Hamilton’s annual salary of $2.25 million remains the same according to the Democrat’s report, but the contract is incentive-laden, providing an opportunity to nearly double that figure if the Seminoles reach certain benchmarks, including winning the ACC regular-season championship ($150,000), making the NCAA Tournament ($200,000), making the Elite Eight ($250,000) and Final Four ($275,000) and winning a national championship ($500,000).
His annual salary ranks eighth among 14 current ACC coaches, behind Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski ($7.2 million), Louisville’s Chris Mack ($4 million), Virginia’s Tony Bennett ($3.3 million), NC State’s Kevin Keatts ($2.7 million), Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim ($2.49 million), North Carolina’s Roy Williams ($2.385 million) and Clemson’s Brad Brownell ($2.325 million).
“Coach Hamilton has done so much for this basketball program and this university that it is hard to express in words,” FSU athletics director David Coburn said. “What he does with his young men, both on and off the court, is truly remarkable. I know both the President [John E. Thrasher] and I regard him as a university treasure, and he is just now getting the national recognition he has deserved for so long. He embodies all the qualities that make a great leader, and we are proud and thrilled to have him as our coach as long as he wishes.”
FSU is coming off the program’s first ACC regular-season championship in 2020 but the conference tournament and the NCAA Tournament were canceled in the wake of the growing concern over the coronavirus pandemic. Under Hamilton’s guidance, the Seminoles have reached the Sweet Sixteen three times (2010-11, 2017-18 and 2019-20). The program also went to the Elite Eight in 2017-18 before losing to Michigan.