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FSU Basketball: Leonard Hamilton snubbed for ACC Coach of the Year

By Kelvin Hunt

SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles looks on against the Saint Louis Billikens during the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at BB&T Center on December 22, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles looks on against the Saint Louis Billikens during the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at BB&T Center on December 22, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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FSU basketball finished higher than all of the pundit preseason predictions and Leonard Hamilton was still disrespected in ACC Coach of the Year voting.

No. 12 FSU basketball (25-6, 13-5 ACC) set new records in regular season wins and ACC wins this season under Leonard Hamilton.

The Noles won 12 of their final 13 ACC games after starting league play (1-4). That lone loss was against ACC regular season co-champion UNC on the road.

Three of their six losses came against teams that could arguably get No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

Despite the school record for regular season and ACC wins, Leonard Hamilton didn’t come close to winning ACC Coach of the Year.

Here’s how the voting ended courtesy of theACC.com:

  • Tony Bennett (30)
  • Buzz Williams (12)
  • Roy Williams (11)
  • Leonard Hamilton (10)
  • Chris Mack (7)

FSU basketball fans believe Coach Hamilton was robbed of the recognition as well courtesy of a Twitter poll:

Thoughts

Listen, I can understand Tony Bennett winning the Coach of the Year Award I guess. After all, they were co-champions of the ACC after winning the league regular season and tournament last year.

They lost two conference games with both coming against Duke. I have no idea why Buzz Williams finished second in the voting because Virginia Tech had a worse regular season record and the same conference record as the prior year.

North Carolina’s Roy Williams did a great job of coaching his team this year no question. However, they were picked to finish top three in the league by most. They did manage to be co-champions by virture of their wins over a Duke without arguably its best player.

Virginia had three players on the All-ACC team. UNC had three and Duke had two players make the All-ACC teams.

Why didn’t Leonard Hamilton receive more votes or win ACC Coach of the Year? I mean, his team set school records for regular season and conference wins. Yet, they didn’t have a SINGLE player on any of the first, second or third All-ACC teams.

Mfiondu Kabengele won the ACC Sixth Man of the Year Award and was named All-ACC Honorable Mention.

Next. Top 5 Leaders To Emerge For 2019 Season. dark

Maybe I’m biased, but I can’t think of a more deserving coach to win the award than Leonard Hamilton this year.

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