Random notes on Leonard Hamilton as a UK assistant, Liam Coen, Indiana basketball and more
Random notes:
▪ At the press conference for the 50-year reunion of Kentucky basketball’s 1974-75 NCAA runner-up team, I asked about Leonard Hamilton, an assistant to Joe B. Hall who announced recently that he is retiring at the end of the season after 23 years as the head coach at Florida State.
“Leonard, he was only like, three or four years older than us when Joe B. hired him,” said Mike Flynn, a starting guard on that ‘74-75 team. “He was a great defensive coach, and he took care of our defense and made sure we played the defensive end. And he was just a tremendous guy, great guy, great guy, and we all enjoyed playing for him. And he’s had a successful career.”
Indeed, Hamilton was 25 years old when he was hired by UK after serving as an assistant to Lake Kelly at Austin Peay. Hamilton was an assistant under Hall and Eddie Sutton before becoming head coach at Oklahoma State in 1986. He took over Miami in 1990, and was head coach of the NBA’s Washington Wizards in 2000 before becoming head coach at Florida State in 2002.
The 76-year-old Hamilton’s career record as a head coach: 657-501 going into FSU’s game at Wake Forest on Wednesday night. The Seminoles are 14-9 overall and 5-7 in the ACC this season.
▪ I have no problem with AP Top 25 college basketball voters — I am not one — keeping Auburn at No. 1 despite the Tigers’ 90-81 home loss to Florida last Saturday. The loss left Auburn 21-2 overall and 12-2 in Quad 1 games according to the NCAA NET rankings. That’s four more Quad 1 wins than any other team. Tennessee is next at 8-4 before Tuesday night’s game at Kentucky.
▪ Saturday’s Auburn-Alabama game in Tuscaloosa will the first ever SEC matchup between men’s basketball teams ranked No. 1 (Auburn) and No. 2 (Alabama) in the AP Top 25.
▪ Reminder: Alabama finished 17th in the final AP Top 25 college football poll after a 9-4 season. Unranked Auburn finished 5-7.
▪ Eastern Kentucky men’s basketball carries a five-game win streak into its Thursday matchup against West Georgia at 7 p.m. in Richmond. Now 8-4 in the ASUN, Eastern is a game behind a four-way tie for first place among North Alabama, Lipscomb, Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast.
▪ If I’m Indiana searching for Mike Woodson’s replacement as basketball coach, my first call goes to Michigan coach and IU alum Dusty May. If May says no, my next call goes to Ole Miss coach Chris Beard, who was once an assistant under Bob Knight.
▪ According to OptaStats, former Kentucky star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 1,633 points and is making 89.98% of his free throws. The only other player to do that is Rick Barry through his first 50 games of the 1974-75 season.
▪ Side note: Barry is married to former UK women’s basketball assistant coach Lynn Norenberg.
▪ Former Kentucky football quality control assistant Brian Picucci has been named offensive line coach for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Picucci came to UK with Liam Coen in 2023, then followed Coen to the Bucs this past season. After becoming head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars last month, Coen tried to bring Picucci with him but was blocked by the Bucs from doing so.
▪ The Bucs also hired former Louisville head coach Charlie Strong as their new defensive line coach.
▪ Biggest takeaway from the Super Bowl: Football is still a line of scrimmage. The Eagles defensive line dominated the Chiefs offensive line. You can wrap up Philadelphia’s 40-22 win over Kansas City right there.
▪ The Super Bowl MVP should have been Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who at age 66 is still getting it done and then some.
▪ If you missed it, the Cincinnati Reds announced Monday the team will wear a No. 14 patch on its jerseys for the 2025 season. The patch honors Pete Rose, the game’s all-time hits leader who passed away last year at the age of 83.
