Leonard Hamilton Program Quotations

We intend to have a good basketball team next year and I feel confident that we will. We've developed the unity and spirit it's going to take to move the program to the next level.

This would probably put us a year ahead of schedule. I thought we could get to the NCAA by Year 5. But this would be a tremendous step for our program. It gives you the credibility you need to keep your program going forward.

We're still in a growing up stage. Last year we relied on a lot of freshmen and sophomores and we lost a lot of close games. One reason the sophomores from last year who are now juniors are playing better is because they're more experienced. A.J. (Johnson) and Al Thornton are giving us good leadership, and we're getting leadership from our three seniors. Todd Galloway has been in the program for four years, so has Andrew Wilson. We have some guys who are maturing a little bit and it's taking some pressure off of our new players.

I'm very happy and proud for them because they've been model citizens. They keep our 100 percent graduation rate intact. But more than anything they're fine people. They're good basketball players, but I'm most proud of the fact that they have helped us move our program forward. Their last home game will be something to remember.

Any time you take over a program and you're building a program, ... you want to try and find a young man with athleticism and skills that you feel can come in and have an impact or at least be able to contribute early in his development.

They came to Florida State with the idea that they wanted to improve the basketball program on their watch, and I have to say that they've accomplished that.