Former Hurricanes coach saw deep NCAA Tournament run coming long before it happened
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Miami Hurricanes make it to the Elite Eight
The Miami Hurricanes’ improbable ride through March Madness continued Friday night, as they advanced to their first Elite Eight in school history with a 70-56 win over the Iowa State Cyclones in the most unforeseen Sweet 16 matchup of the NCAA Tournament.
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Former Hurricanes coach saw deep NCAA Tournament run coming long before it happened
The Miami Hurricanes’ march to the Elite Eight seemed like a laughable prospect back when the team was picked to finish 12th in the ACC in the preseason.
But their former coach Leonard Hamilton saw their true potential months before Miami made its way to the cusp of the Final Four.
It was on Jan. 11th just after Hamilton’s Florida State Seminoles snapped the Hurricanes’ nine-game winning streak with a one-point win in Tallahassee when the coach that led UM to its first Sweet 16 appearance back in the 1999-2000 season felt this year’s group had the right ingredients to do something special.
“Miami has a really, really good basketball team. They have the ability, in my opinion, to get to the Final Four,” Hamilton said after the Seminoles’ win over Miami. “They are so difficult to defend. Every time you make a mistake, they make you pay. They execute very well.”
Fast forward two and a half months, and Hamilton is one Hurricanes win away from his assessment being prophetic.
Miami (26-10) secured a berth in the Elite Eight for the first time in program history on Friday following a 70-56 win over Iowa State.
This coming only a year after Miami won just 10 games in the last of three consecutive seasons of not making the NCAA Tournament.
The Hurricanes are now on the cusp of making it to their first Final Four if they can knock off college basketball titan Kansas, the lone remaining top seed in this year’s Tournament.
Hamilton coached UM from 1990-2000 and helped revitalize a program that had been shut down from 1971 to 1985 before his arrival in Coral Gables.
Hamilton led the Canes to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances including their first of four Sweet 16 appearances in his final season before leaving to coach the Washington Wizards. Hamilton has coached FSU since 2002 and led the Seminoles to eight NCAA Tournament appearances including one Elite Eight berth in 2018 and four Sweet 16 appearances.
Hamilton’s Seminoles, who did not make the postseason after an injury-plagued 17-14 season, beat Miami twice this year - each time by one point.
But Hamilton felt then that Miami’s defensive-minded group and its cohesion on the offensive end could catapult it to new heights.
The Hurricanes showed glimpses of that formula which has served them well throughout the postseason against Iowa State finishing with 21 assists - led by Charlie Moore’s nine - and by taking advantage of 18 turnovers by the Cyclones.
“They seem to be in sync with each other, creating for each other,” Hamilton said in January. “They were making it hard for us to run anything. We were fortunate to win this game...They are going to be a tough out for anyone.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 10:51 AM.
