 Hamilton in 2013 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1948-08-04)August 4, 1948 (age 77) Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1966–1968 | Gaston CC |
| 1969–1971 | UT Martin |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1971–1974 | Austin Peay (assistant) |
| 1974–1986 | Kentucky (assistant) |
| 1986–1990 | Oklahoma State |
| 1990–2000 | Miami (FL) |
| 2000–2001 | Washington Wizards |
| 2002–2025 | Florida State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 660–506 (.566) (college) 19–63 (.232) (NBA) |
| Tournaments | 14–11 (NCAA) 10–11 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Big East regular season (2000) ACC tournament (2012) ACC regular season (2020) | |
| Awards | |
| UPI National Coach of the Year (1995) 2×Big East Coach of the Year (1995, 1999) 3×ACC Coach of the Year (2009, 2012, 2020) Ben Jobe Award (2021) | |
James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American formerbasketball coach. He served as the head coach atFlorida State University from 2002 to 2025. He is a former head coach atOklahoma State University, theUniversity of Miami, and for theNational Basketball Association'sWashington Wizards.
In his 33 years as a collegiate head coach, his teams qualified for 12NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments and 11National Invitation Tournaments, highlighted by appearances in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight (2018) and Sweet 16 (2011, 2019, 2021) with Florida State, and a Sweet 16 appearance with Miami (2000). Other career benchmarks include theBig East Conference regular season championship in 2000, theACC tournament title in 2012, and the ACC regular season championship in 2020. Hamilton is the winningest coach in school history at Florida State and one of only four coaches to have 200 regular season ACC wins.
Hamilton played college basketball at theUniversity of Tennessee at Martin, where he was the first Black player in program history.[1][2] He was a member of theKappa Alpha Psi fraternity.[3]
Hamilton was an assistant coach and associate head coach at theUniversity of Kentucky from 1974 to 1986 under then-head coachJoe B. Hall. He was the first Black coach in Kentucky basketball history, and is credited with helping Hall to fully integrate the program.[4] Hamilton was on the staff at Kentucky when it finished as theNCAA runner-up in 1975, won the1978 NCAA Championship and went to the1984 Final Four. He was a successful recruiter for Kentucky basketball, with players includingJack Givens,James Lee,Sam Bowie andMelvin Turpin[5]
Hamilton was named ACC Coach of the Year on March 10, 2009, and a second time in 2012,[6] and again in 2020.[7] Hamilton is the first coach to be named coach of the year in both the Big East and the ACC. In 2018, he was named the Clarence "Big House" Gaines National Coach of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.[8]
On February 3, 2025, Florida State announced that Hamilton would be resigning as head coach at the conclusion of the 2024–25 season.[9]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma State Cowboys(Big Eight Conference)(1986–1990) | |||||||||
| 1986–87 | Oklahoma State | 8–20 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 1987–88 | Oklahoma State | 14–16 | 4–10 | T–6th | |||||
| 1988–89 | Oklahoma State | 17–13 | 7–7 | T–4th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 1989–90 | Oklahoma State | 17–14 | 6–8 | 5th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| Oklahoma State: | 56–63 (.471) | 21–35 (.375) | |||||||
| Miami Hurricanes(NCAA Division I Independent)(1990–1991) | |||||||||
| 1990–91 | Miami | 9–19 | |||||||
| Miami Hurricanes(Big East Conference)(1991–2000) | |||||||||
| 1991–92 | Miami | 8–24 | 1–17 | 10th | |||||
| 1992–93 | Miami | 10–17 | 7–11 | 9th | |||||
| 1993–94 | Miami | 7–20 | 0–18 | 10th | |||||
| 1994–95 | Miami | 15–13 | 9–9 | 5th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1995–96 | Miami | 15–13 | 8–10 | 4th(Big East 7) | |||||
| 1996–97 | Miami | 16–13 | 9–9 | T–4th(Big East 7) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1997–98 | Miami | 18–10 | 11–7 | 2nd(Big East 7) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 1998–99 | Miami | 23–7 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 1999–00 | Miami | 23–11 | 13–3 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| Miami: | 144–147 (.495) | 73–87 (.456) | |||||||
| Florida State Seminoles(Atlantic Coast Conference)(2002–2025) | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | Florida State | 14–15 | 4–12 | 9th | |||||
| 2003–04 | Florida State | 19–14 | 6–10 | T–7th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2004–05 | Florida State | 12–19 | 4–12 | T–10th | |||||
| 2005–06 | Florida State | 20–10 | 9–7 | 5th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Florida State | 22–13 | 7–9 | T–8th | NIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2007–08 | Florida State | 19–15 | 7–9 | T–7th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Florida State | 25–10 | 10–6 | 4th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Florida State | 22–10 | 10–6 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2010–11 | Florida State | 23–11 | 11–5 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2011–12 | Florida State | 25–10 | 12–4 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2012–13 | Florida State | 18–16 | 9–9 | 6th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2013–14 | Florida State | 22–14 | 9–9 | T–7th | NIT Semifinal | ||||
| 2014–15 | Florida State | 17–16 | 8–10 | 9th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Florida State | 20–14 | 8–10 | T–11th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2016–17 | Florida State | 26–9 | 12–6 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Florida State | 23–12 | 9–9 | T–8th | NCAA Division I Elite Eight | ||||
| 2018–19 | Florida State | 29–8 | 13–5 | 4th | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Florida State | 26–5 | 16–4 | 1st | Postseason cancelled due toCOVID-19 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Florida State | 18–7 | 11–4 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Florida State | 17–14 | 10–10 | 8th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Florida State | 9–23 | 7–13 | 12th | |||||
| 2023–24 | Florida State | 17–16 | 10–10 | T–8th | |||||
| 2024–25 | Florida State | 17–15 | 8–12 | T–9th | |||||
| Florida State: | 460–296 (.608) | 211–191 (.525) | |||||||
| Total: | 660–506 (.566) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 2000–01 | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | 7th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 82 | 19 | 63 | .232 | — | — | — | — |
Hamilton is married to Claudette Hamilton and they have two children.[10]