PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – His coaching career started when Richard Nixon was President. He’s seen a few things. Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton saw this Panthers team beat his by 15 Tuesday and he believes they will continue to climb.
“Before too long, you are going to see this program be one of the top programs in the country,” Hamilton said.
“This is a great program in a great city that gives them great support. The atmosphere, the student body is right on the floor and they are part of the game. This is what you like to see.”
Hamilton coached against Sean Miller at the Fitzgerald Field House and now coaches against Blake Hinson, Jaland Lowe, Bub Carrington and the 2023-24 Panthers team.
“It’s very unusual that you compete against people that have so many good perimeter shooters and guys that can move as well without the ball as with the ball,” Hamilton said. “Now that they’ve gone through a year and they’ve gotten more mature and they are moving the ball. Every big three-point shot that they took, they converted.”
Hamilton said credit to Pitt head coach Jeff Capel for putting together a system to play to his team’s strengths and the team has bought into it. The Florida State coach says while Hinson is the main guy, they can win by committee. He believes that’s what good teams do.
And they are doing it with a pair of freshmen guards who handle the ball most of the time.
“They are poised,” Hamilton said. “They have tremendous buy-in. It’s obvious they have a good relationship with their staff and with each other. And now that they’ve grown into a very poised, mature team, even though they are very young, they are very confident. I think that is because of the synergy with the team.”
Hamilton is familiar with rebuilding projects. His first Division One head coaching job he turned Oklahoma State from an eight-win team to nationally ranked in four years. He turned a Miami team that had single-digit wins in three of four years to a pair of back-to-back 23-win seasons. At FSU he had two losing seasons in his first three years and has had one since 2005. He knows what is required and credits the Pitt leaders for staying with Capel when it looked bleak.
“I’m so happy for Jeff that people have been patient,” Hamilton said. “This is not an easy thing to do. This is not easy. Programs don’t get to be that way where they need a little fixing up overnight. There is an atmosphere in college athletics that you are supposed to be able to go fix it immediately.”
“I compliment the administration for being patient and giving him the opportunity to fix it. They are reaping the good things with giving a coach an opportunity and being encouraging and supporting.”
Capel has led Pitt to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in a decade. He said he wants more. Hamilton believes there isn’t just more potential in the future but the rest of this season.
“This team is capable to beating anybody in our league because of how well they play together and in sync in terms of creating a system where they are taking the highest percentage shot,” Hamilton said. “It’s amazing the highest percentage shot can be a 25-footer. That is the uniqueness of this team.”
Gone are the 10-win seasons and Pitt fans aren’t the only ones noticing it.