Seminoles' Hamilton to receive extension after 26-win season
ORLANDO -- The Florida State men's basketball team's season ended with a thud Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but FSU athletics director Stan Wilcox said that doesn't diminish what was a tremendous season for the Seminoles.
"You never evaluate a season based on one contest -- particularly in the NCAAs," Wilcox told Warchant.com after No. 3 seed FSU was upset and shellacked by No. 11 seed Xavier at the Amway Center, 91-66.
Wilcox confirmed to Warchant that he and head coach Leonard Hamilton already had agreed "orally" on a contract extension before the postseason. Terms of the deal have not been finalized, but Wilcox said the new deal should be signed within the month.
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Hamilton currently is under contract through the 2018-19 season after receiving a two-year extension last year. He is expected to receive another two-year deal.
FSU finish tied for second in the ACC with a 12-6 record after being picked eighth in the preseason. And the Seminoles (26-9) played their way into a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament after starting the season unranked.
Florida State led early in Saturday's second-round game but fell behind under a barrage of 3-pointers by the Musketeers. Xavier came into the game shooting 34.2 percent from long range but connected on 64.7 percent (11-for-17) against the 'Noles.
FSU, meanwhile, hit just 4 of 21 from 3-point range.
"It was one of those things where you've really got to come to play every game," Wilcox said. "A team can get really hot -- if you look at their shooting percentage from the 3-point line and you look at ours, that there was really the game. It just happened to be our day we weren't on, and we weren't able to stop them from hitting theirs. They were just shooting lights out.
"That's going to happen during games during the regular season and particularly in the postseason, because of the enthusiasm. That's when the will to win really comes out. We've just got to learn, as a young team, we've got to learn that when you get into the postseason, that's when you've really got to keep that high energy up all the time."
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