Leonard Hamilton was the first Black player at Tennessee-Martin, the first Black assistant coach in the SEC when he took a job on Joe B. Hall’s staff at Kentucky.
I hate for him that he’s stepping down as the head coach at Florida State amid scandal – facing a lawsuit from former players alleging that he reneged on promised six-figure NIL payments that nearly led to a player-led boycott of a 2024 game with Duke.
Taken down by the new way of doing business in big-time college athletics, the often-outspoken Hamilton isn’t shying away from letting his feelings on who will bear the brunt of the change be known.
“The thing that’s most concerning me is, look, I believe about 40, close to 40 percent of all the kids who put their name in the portal don’t get scholarships, so in about five years, you’re gonna have six, nearly six or seven thousand kids without an education, without a scholarship. What are they going to do with their lives with this wonderful plan that we’re supposed to be developing? And unfortunately, and now, I don’t want to make a racial issue out of this, but probably 80 percent of them are going to be Black kids who can ill afford to not have an opportunity to get the education,” Hamilton told reporters after his team’s 60-57 loss to Virginia in Charlottesville on Tuesday.
Hamilton, yep, he came with the fire.
He was clearly looking for an excuse to talk about the issue – the question from the reporter that prompted him to muse on the changes in college basketball asked him to pontificate on the state of guard play in the ACC.
The coach jumped from talking up guard play and the general state of the ACC to the challenge of putting together a roster and developing players in this new NIL/transfer portal era.
“The challenge for us and what makes it so difficult in our league now, I mean, like, I’ve never had 10 new players, at one time,” Hamilton said. “You get accustomed to teaching and coaching and developing your team, and then all of a sudden, now you say, it’s February, you know, you’re supposed to be a well-oiled machine. Well, we’re still teaching out-of-bounds plays, we’re still doing some of the little things, because we have five high-school guys, we got some transfers. And so, mixing that all together, with only having one junior, for us, it’s been more been challenging.”
What Hamilton is saying here echoes what former UVA Basketball coach Tony Bennett said when he stepped down before the season, citing burnout from three years of 24/7/365 recruiting and player development that has been forced on coaching staffs by the new way of doing things.
“I know the people who developed this climate, the people who put this wonderful system together, I’m sure they had something planned for how we supposed to deal with it, but they didn’t send the memo to me,” Hamilton said.
“I’m curious as to why, why? You know, I know they did the research. I’m sure there were some psychologists in the room, some financial people, and there was a lot of statistical analytical stuff going on to come up with this magnificent system that we’re working with. And I’d just like to know, they had to have something in mind for how we’re supposed to deal with it. And I just, I’m still waiting on that memo. I think a whole lot of coaches are.”
Hamilton cited the test case at Louisville, where first-year coach Pat Kelsey is a game out of first in the ACC with a roster comprised of 10 transfers and a true freshman, as a sort of exception that proves the rule.
“Louisville hit it just right where they got 10 seniors, you know, from good programs, and I think they’re doing a very good job of taking advantage of their skills, but they gotta do it again next year, and that’s what it’s like now, the atmosphere that we’re dealing with. Sometimes, you might hit it, and sometimes you don’t, and it’s changed the whole way you develop and teach and coach your team with the climate that we’re dealing with,” Hamilton said.
This last point that Hamilton in his postgame takedown of the NCAA made was most salient to me.
“Years ago, if you didn’t graduate your guys, you couldn’t go participate in NCAA Tournament. Have you heard anybody say anything about graduation lately?” Hamilton said. “I mean, so, somehow or another, this thing is, it’s a little confusing. I don’t have any opinions other than, I have questions, and I wish somebody would stand up.
“I’m sure that group who did that, they mean what I’m sure they meant with it, but I’d just kind of like to have a little more information as I ride on into the sunset,” Hamilton said.
Share
Chris Graham
