Who could be the next head coach of Florida State Basketball?

A comprehensive hot board of who could fill in Leonard Hamilton's shoes.

Jan 4, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton reacts during the first half against the Syracuse Orange at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Florida State is saying goodbye to Leonard Hamilton at the end of the season, one of the legends of the sport and the winningest coach in program history, and now has to find someone to fill his shoes. It’ll be no easy task, but let’s see if we can identify some ideal candidates. 

I’ve been told Florida State would preferably like someone younger, someone who can grow with the program as it ascends to new heights, but also someone built to handle the immense stress of the current state of college athletics (recruiting, transfer portal, NIL, etc.) while fighting for funds on the booster trail. Sounds like every other corporate job in America “We want someone right out of college with 10 years of experience.” I get it, but there are some great candidates out there. 

This list has changed a lot over the last year. Josh Scheyer left Indiana State for Saint Louis, Dusty May left Florida Atlantic for Michigan, Pat Kelsey (who I've been hoping for) left Charleston for Louisville, and USF's Amir Abdur-Rahim unexpectedly passed away before the season.

READ MORE: BREAKING: Leonard Hamilton to step down from Florida State at season's end

“It’s Not Going to Happen, So Quit Asking”

Dennis Gates - Head Coach, Missouri

Jan 14, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Dennis Gates looks on against the Florida Gators during the second half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images / Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

First, let me say this, I’m a huge fan of Coach Gates. From my time with Florida State as a student manager with the team, I came away very impressed with how Gates handles business. From his ability to teach to his ability to connect with everyone in the building, he just does a tremendous job of understanding everybody. A big reason for that is his thirst for knowledge. While an assistant at FSU, you could see him all over campus taking in other sports practices, from softball to football, to soccer, and everything in between. He wants as many different examples of leadership and coaching as he can find and intertwine them with his own principles.

He’s also a huge believer in Coach Hamilton and the idea of following him up has to entice him at least a little bit. He worked as a grad assistant at FSU under Hamilton for the 2004-05 season before returning as an assistant from 2011 to 2019 and helped build some of the best teams we’ve ever seen in Tallahassee. There’s a reason why so many fans want Gates and his age, at just 44 years old, fits what FSU wants. 

It’s just not happening. The biggest reason is that the contract buyout is absurd. Following a run to the NCAA Tournament in his first season at Missouri, they gave him a contract extension through the 2028-29 season, giving him a pay raise from $2.5 million per year to $4 million per year and changing the buyout language to basically say “whatever money is left over, you’re responsible for all of it.” So his buyout, as of now, would come in somewhere around $17.5 million, not including the buyouts for his staff. Also, Missouri was pretty bad his year in his second season, finishing 8-24. He's turned it around in a big way this season, but it just isn’t realistic for Florida State to pay a basketball coach more than $18 million on top of whatever money it would take to bring him back to Tallahassee, which I would guess is around $5 million per year, at least. Coach Norvell was paid $3 million in the 2022 season. 

It’s not going to happen. 

The Current Assistants

Stan Jones - Associate Head Coach, Florida State

Coach Jones was great to me in my time at FSU and continues to be great to me to this day. There are fewer people out there that know more about the game of basketball than Coach Jones and he’s done a lot behind the scenes of the program; there’s a reason Coach Hamilton has had Jones at his side for 29 of the last 30 seasons between Miami and Florida State. Every big man you’ve seen have success at FSU is due to Coach Jones, as their practices often have segments where they split the guards and bigs, with Jones leading the big men drills 99% of the time. 

Coach Jones absolutely deserves an interview given how long he’s been in Tallahassee. 

I think his age is going to be his biggest downfall here, having graduated from Memphis in 1984. I doubt FSU’s administration views Jones as a long-term option, as great as he’s been for the program in the last 20 years. He’s interviewed for some head jobs here and there but never was able to land one. I do wonder if that weighs at the front of AD Alford’s mind as well. 

Kevin Nickelberry - Assistant Coach, Florida State

This one may actually have more legs than you’d expect. Nickelberry, uncle to former Florida State guard Josh Nickelberry, has been a well-respected assistant across college basketball, with stops at Howard, DePaul, UNC Charlotte, Clemson, LSU, and Georgetown, and was the head coach at Howard and Hampton. The LSU situation was unique because he took over for Will Wade after he was let go from the whole wiretap scandal and Nickelberry coached them in the NCAA Tournament. 

Despite those experiences, he’s just 145-239 overall as a head coach, has been on the staff of a really bad Georgetown team, and whatever you consider this and last year’s FSU teams to be, and when you factor that in with his age (graduated from Virginia Wesleyan in 1986), it probably doesn’t line up with what Florida State will want. 

Former FSU Coaches Elsewhere

Charlton Young - Associate Head Coach, Missouri

Another coach that I’m a big fan of who is a phenomenal recruiter, but I just don’t know if CY is a power-conference head coach in FSU's eyes. He’s only been a head coach once, at his alma mater, Georgia Southern, where he went 43-84 overall, and that was over a decade ago, and he wasn't given a fair shake there. CY did an amazing job as an assistant at Florida State from 2013-2022, landing multiple five-stars and future NBA players and helping the team to multiple NCAA Tournaments while also doing a great job of keeping a smile on everyone’s face. There are very few personalities like CY… the stories I could tell. 

In the end, not much previous success as a head coach likely doesn’t leave him as a serious candidate for FSU, but he deserves a shot sooner or later. 

Andy Enfield - Head Coach, SMU

Enfield was the popular name a little over a decade ago when he led Florida Gulf Coast to the Sweet 16 before bolting for USC. His run there was a… mixed bag, let’s call it. He had five NCAA Tournament appearances in Los Angeles but has never been out of the first weekend, including back-to-back seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22, two teams entering the Tournament with 24-7 records and being a 6 or 7 seed. 

He’s kept up with Coach Hamilton and even let us use the USC practice facility in 2018 when Florida State came out to Los Angeles for the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, SMU came calling and was able to lure him to Dallas last offseason. If that hadn’t happened, this may have had some merit. 

READ MORE: FSU's Leonard Hamilton releases statement on decision to retire

NBA to Tally

Bill Donovan - Head Coach, Chicago Bulls

Ha, made you look. This would be hilarious if it were to happen given most of his success came at FSU’s rival, Florida. It won’t happen though. I’m fairly certain Donovan has close to no interest in returning to college given its current landscape and even if he did, he’d likely end up somewhere with a more storied history. 

Mar 17, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Sam Cassell looks on from the sideline during the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images / Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images

Sam Cassell - Assistant Coach, Boston Celtics

Now we’re getting to the more serious candidates. I believe there is a significant amount of interest from Florida State’s side in Cassell: one of the greatest players in program history, a 3-time NBA Champion, and one of just three former FSU players to play in the NBA All-Star Game. Since hanging up the sneakers in 2009, he’s bounced around the league as an assistant coach and has been one of the more highly regarded assistants recently with the 76ers, Clippers, and now on the reigning NBA champion Celtics. He’s interviewed for a number of different head coaching opportunities at the NBA level. 

This is a hire that would sit well with the casual fans, the ones who only watch a few games a year and casually keep up with the sport because they know the name and they see it in the rafters of the Tucker Center. And honestly, fan support has been lacking in recent years, getting a name that people know would help with that. 

I just don’t know how successful it would be. The NBA to College route has been disastrous recently: Juwan Howard at Michigan, Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, Mike Woodson at Indiana, Aaron McKie at Temple, Kenny Payne at Louisville (who had previous college experience as an assistant), Jerry Stackhouse at Vanderbilt… Most of them had one or two great seasons because people see the name and connections and want to play for them initially before it ends up crashing in a fireball. Damon Stoudamire at Georgia Tech is a wait-and-see since he’s in his second season, but even he seems in over his head. 

That’s not to say it couldn’t work if you get the right assistants around who have experience recruiting and with the transfer portal. We just haven’t seen it work for an extended period to date and I would preferably like a head coach that has that experience in college. He’s 55 years old which also isn’t quite as young as what I’d expect FSU to go after. Still, this is a name to watch. But also, let me make this clear, this is not the direction I would go.

Luke Loucks - Assistant Coach, Sacramento Kings

Another former FSU player, this time the starting point guard on FSU’s first ACC Championship team, has drawn a fair bit of interest from people around the program. Similar to Cassell, Loucks has no college coaching experience, but he has been a coach for the NBA Summer League and for the G-League, which is at least a little closer to college. 

Loucks was a player development coach for the Golden State Warriors during the peak of their powers, working a lot with two-way players, which includes Chris Boucher, someone who became a solid player in the NBA.

A lot of the same issues that I mentioned with Cassell still apply here though, with no experience in the current landscape of college basketball; it’s changed a lot even since Loucks graduated in 2012. If Florida State were to go in this direction, they’d have to surround him with a veteran cast of assistants. I’m not certain if Loucks has any desire to coach in college, but he’s worth a call. 

However, I do believe there is some interest from both parties here. I’ve been told FSU and Loucks had some preliminary discussions before the 2024-25 season about his interest in the job before Sacramento barred communication unless FSU was willing to name him the Head Coach in Waiting. That didn’t happen, obviously. But he’s only 34 years old (turns 35 on April 1), and has the energy needed to be a head coach. 

College Coaches

Jan 19, 2022; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Chris Mack looks on during the second half against Boston College Eagles at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Boston College 67-54. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Chris Mack - Charleston, Former Head Coach, Louisville and Xavier

I’m personally not a big fan of this, but ESPN connected him with FSU in an article back in February of 2023. His teams at Louisville were mostly solid and peaked during the 2019-20 season, but it wasn’t good enough for Louisville, and he was let go after being suspended six games to start the 2021-22 season. His last four seasons at Xavier prior to Louisville was legitimately a good run. Then, after a year or two off, he pops back up at Charleston to take over for Pat Kelsey, and they played well this season. 

Given his history with FSU and how his teams played FSU, I just don’t think this would work on paper. I think he’s a good coach, but don’t think he’s young enough for what FSU would prefer.

Will Wade - Head Coach, McNeese State

This will go over well. For those unfamiliar or for those that need a refresher if you skimmed my earlier section about Coach Nickelberry, Wade was let go from LSU following the wiretap scandal from a few years back. He was caught on recordings making “strong offers” to recruits before NIL, was suspended multiple times, and had to renegotiate his contract with LSU to be reinstated once. After a notice of allegations by the NCAA, Wade was let go in 2022. There’s a reason Jon Rothstein, the media mastermind of slogans, gave him the nickname “American Gangster.”

He resurfaced a year later as the coach of McNeese State, where they’ve been very good, going to the NCAA Tournament last season. In fact, Wade has been very good everywhere he’s been. In two seasons at UT-Chattanooga, he was 40-25, in two seasons at VCU he was 51-20 and made the NCAA Tournament both times, and in five seasons at LSU, he was 105-51 with three NCAA Tournament appearances. It’s the good with the bad. 

I’ve been told Wade is very interested in Florida State and was “knocking on doors” asking about it as early as the first week of February… of 2024. He’s a great coach but comes with some (outdated) baggage. Just given who FSU prefers to lead their programs, Wade doesn’t quite fit the bill, and I don’t see this one materializing. 

Takayo Siddle - Head Coach, UNC Wilmington

This is my top candidate if I were to choose the next head coach at Florida State. Siddle has been at UNCW for four seasons, where he has compiled a record of 141-97, winning the Colonial Conference and the CBI Championship in his second season and beating Kentucky at Rupp Arena in 2023-24. In the three years before he took over, they were 31-66. 

I think Siddle checks every box: he’s had success as a head coach, he has experience in the ACC as a former assistant under Coach Kevin Keatts at NC State, he was an elite recruiter at NC State and named one of the top recruiters in the country, he’s cheaper than almost every option on the list (base salary of just $300,000, the most he can make after incentives is $750,000), and he’s incredibly young at just 38 years old. 

It won’t be long before Siddle gets an opportunity at a bigger job and I think Florida State would fit him perfectly. Whether or not FSU decides to pursue this is yet to be seen. 

Bucky McMillan - Head Coach, Samford

Bucky Ball!

Bucky McMillan is going to be one of the hottest names on the market this offseason. He led Samford to the NCAA Tournament last year (they were robbed of the Kansas game) amid a 29-6 season and is 141-95 in his time there, winning 20+ games each of the last four seasons, assuming they don't fall apart the rest of this season.

McMillan has ties to the South as he was born in Birmingham, Alabama, is a former Alabama high school coach, and played for Birminhgam-Southern. He's likely in-line to be an SEC head coach this offseason, who will be able to pay him a lot more, but this is a name to watch, as he's just 41 years old.

Alan Huss - Head Coach, High Point

Huss would be a gamble, as he's only been at High Point for two seasons. But they went 27-9 in his first season, winning the regular season Big South championship. They're on pace to win the Big South again this year, and he's been able to draw former high-major transfers to his team.

He also has great high school connections. Huss is the former head coach of La Lumiere, one of the premier prep schools in the country that has churned out NBA players like Jordan Poole, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jeremy Sochan, Isaiah Stewart, and more. He's also been an assistant at New Mexico and Creighton recently. He'll get a shot at a high-major school before too long at 46 years old.

Conclusion

If I were to list who I think is likeliest to be the next head coach, it probably starts with Loucks. If I were to make my own list of who I’d want, it realistically goes some order of Siddle, McMillan, and Huss before getting to Loucks and Cassell. This is a big hire and Mike Alford has made great hires across the university for a number of different sports. He has a chance to help the basketball program continue what Coach Hamilton was working towards at the end of the 2010s and I’m not sure the program could afford to get this one wrong. 

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READ MORE: Florida State Announces New Deputy Athletic Director, CFO

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