Why Leonard Hamilton should repeat at ACC Coach of the Year

By Kelvin Hunt | Mar 5, 2021

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 15: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles looks on against the Virginia Cavaliers during their game in the semifinals of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 15, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

Talent

Leonard Hamilton has done a great job of getting talent to Tallahassee over the past few years. The number of players drafted since 2015 is a testament to his work on the recruiting trail.

However, it’s still not in the same ballpark as the blue blood programs like Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, and others.

Hamilton has used a mixture of solid three and four-star recruits while developing those players in a rotation that goes 10 or 11 players deep each year.

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He’s done a great job of getting players to buy-in to his vision and the culture of the program.

Here’s a look at where FSU basketball has finished in the composite rankings since 2017:

2017: 12th in the nation(4th in the ACC)
2018: 122nd in the nation (13th in the ACC)
2019: 19th in the nation (4th in the ACC)
2020: 41st in the nation (10th in the ACC)

It’s easy to guess which ACC teams finished in front of the Noles in those four seasons. It’s the usual suspects that shouldn’t even make the NCAA Tournament this year.

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