ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAY

October 25, 2023

Leonard Hamilton

Darin Green, Jr.

Baba Miller

Florida State Seminoles

Men's Press Conference

Q. 22 years now at Florida State; how did that happen?

LEONARD HAMILTON: How long?

Q. 22.

LEONARD HAMILTON: Wow, I think I'm just blessed and fortunate to be at a university that's supported us in our journey. But we've had a pretty good run of success. I'm looking forward to the upcoming season with the new addition of the Seminole basketball team more so than many other years that I've coached there.

I think we have a nice group of youngsters who are talented. We've got our depth back, and we can sustain our energy for 40 minutes like we've been accustomed to. I'm looking forward to the upcoming season, and hopefully it will be one that we'll remember.

Q. Going off of that, we don't see that. We don't see schools invest in coaches for that length of time nowadays. We don't see coaches stick around as long. What is it about this marriage between you and Florida State that has been so profitable for both parties, and why is it so important to you to continue to lead the Seminoles?

LEONARD HAMILTON: My journey has been taking over programs that need a little fixing up. Oklahoma State hadn't been to the postseason tournament in 27 years before I went there, and Miami didn't even have basketball for 13 years, with no conference affiliation.

Florida State, even though they had a pretty good basketball program, I thought that they had been a little inconsistent. I've enjoyed going to places and being a part of helping reestablish the tradition and having a little success.

I've had tremendous support from the administration, the basketball community, and just being a part of the ACC I think has really been something that we've taken advantage of.

When you look back at the ACC over the years, and being a youngster from Gastonia, North Carolina, and being caught up in the ACC mindset has always motivated me to want to reach that level.

Being in a conference with the pillars, Duke, Carolina, and the other programs that have represented us that allowed the new programs like Florida State to have a chance to compete at that level and make more progress, so now you have a league where it's kind of hard to predict who's going to win it and who's ranked and you've got to be prepared when you go play in every game because you're capable of losing.

That's the quality of the coaches and the quality of the players and the support that the administration and the league has given the coaches.

Q. Darin Green is one of three players in the ACC last year that shot and made 90 or more three-pointers. Is there a point in the game or a point in the season in which you just tell him, don't?

LEONARD HAMILTON: No. As a matter of fact, if he can see the orange on the goal, if he can see the orange on the rim, as far as I'm concerned, he can shoot it. I'm not going to hold him back.

He's improved in other areas of his game, though. I think that he's learned to include his mid-range game. I think he's taking the ball to the basket a little bit better because we've insisted that he take advantage of all his skills.

Last year we were not a very good perimeter shooting team and people would load up on him, and so I would have shot the ball a lot better. This year he has some complementary guys around him that can shoot the ball, including Baba over here. He shoots the ball well.

I think he'll have more opportunities this year because of us being more of a well-rounded basketball team.

Q. I'm curious, the last three years we've seen Roy, K, Boeheim all step aside. I know you've probably thought about this more than you'd like, but what is it that keeps energizing you to want to do this?

LEONARD HAMILTON: I enjoy every day. I don't hunt, I don't fish, I don't play golf. I love gospel music. That's about the only hobby I really have.

When people trust you with their most precious gift, their child, you have to take that seriously. You become a surrogate father, mother, sister, brother, counselor, coach, and all of the above.

When you're thinking you're taking teenagers into young adulthood, that's a much more important responsibility than just about anything we do.

I'm excited every day I come to work. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't coaching. I probably wouldn't -- I'd probably have difficulty staying married if I wasn't busy.

I'm here. As long as I don't come out of the locker room and go sit on the other team's bench by mistake because I don't know where I am, I'm going to hang right on in here.

Q. You've had a very successful career as a head coach, multiple stops. Are there any specific memories you have in particular that you carry with you, seasons, successes, anything in particular that stands out?

LEONARD HAMILTON: I think I've been very fortunate to have opportunities at programs that created a tremendous challenge for me, and it's always kept me motivated because they were jobs that were not as successful when I took them. But I had the opportunity to coach there.

I just enjoy the challenge. I'm not easily discouraged. I try to be positive most of the time. I have my moments. Green don't guard anybody, but other than that, I enjoy what I do.

I'm always motivated. I can't think of anything in particular except that I just want to think that we're not done yet. We've still got an opportunity to keep making progress.

Q. You made the decision to come over from UCF. When you made that decision, now being a part of this program last year, what's been the best pieces of being a Florida State Seminole as you look back on that decision?

DARIN GREEN JR.: Just being around Coach Ham, my teammates every day. Coach Ham recruits the same kind of guys, good guys, and that's the kind of dude I want to be around. Coach Ham is from Gastonia, North Carolina; my mom is from Gastonia, North Carolina, so we kind of had that same background. I think he did a good job getting to my mom before he got to me.

Q. Coach gave you a hard time by saying you don't guard people. How do you define your style?

DARIN GREEN JR.: I think he's talking about last year. Got better at guarding guys. He's been on me about it, just taking pride in defense. I've taken that challenge and I'm working on being better at that.

Q. Do you have to win a championship in order to call it a successful season?

DARIN GREEN JR.: I feel like that's what you would like to happen, but I don't think you have to have that to happen.

For me, I want to win a championship, but also in my fifth year in college I haven't been to the NCAA Tournament, so that's one of my goals, is to get there, and not just get there, but win an NCAA Tournament.

I feel like last year it disappointed us that we feel like we let Coach Ham down, so turning around and getting there this year would make us all happy.

Q. How would you describe your teammate to your right?

DARIN GREEN JR.: Oh, man, that's actually my roommate, so I'm like his big little brother.

When he first got here he didn't like any food here. He was just new from Spain. He's come a long way. Unselfish dude on and off the court. He'll give me anything if I didn't have it, and I'll give him anything if I had it. Yeah, man, he's just a great all-around dude.

Q. Baba, how would you describe Darin?

BABA MILLER: DG is basically a big brother to all of us. He's got the experience in college basketball, so he can lead us on the court and off the court. He's always looking out for us. If we need anything, you can count on him. That's what I would say.

Q. Best pieces of home, best food? What can you tell us to paint a picture as my dad and I look to travel overseas?

BABA MILLER: Best food, I have to go with Paella. Best food in the world. I just really like my home town, like Mallorca, it's a beautiful island. You've got beaches. You've got resorts. You've got -- any type of activity you want to do you're going to have in Mallorca. Just a good place to just chill, just rest your mind, reset, keep going. Good place to chill.

Q. I wanted to ask about how much more comfortable you feel this year. How much more comfortable are you now getting full camp, knowing you're going to play right out of the gate?

BABA MILLER: I think this off-season helped me to reset my mind, get my confidence back, get physically ready, just feel comfortable being myself on the court, especially just being able to go back home with my national team, just feel myself on the court just have fun playing basketball, then the off-season with Florida State, getting to know the new guys, building chemistry with the guys I played with last year.

Everything is just building up to having a great season this year.

Q. Baba, you talk about building chemistry. What are the tricks? What are the best practices? What's the best way to build chemistry?

BABA MILLER: I feel like it all starts from caring for each other. Like when you actually care for the person that's right next to you and you're going to go to battle with during the season, I feel like that's when you start to build chemistry. I feel like when you make an unselfish play on the court, when you have an easy shot you can take, when you have DG wide open in the corner, I'm going to give it to him, that's how you start building chemistry. Being unselfish towards the people you love.

Q. You laughed when Coach Ham said it would probably be hard for him to stay married if he wasn't coaching. Why did you laugh? What is it about Coach Ham's personality that made you turn a smile?

BABA MILLER: Coach Ham is just always joking, always making us be joyful when we're around him, just always making these type of jokes about marriage.

No, he's just a frank person, just a person you want to be around, just be happy around him.