5 NCAA Basketball programs ready to turn the page on 2022

Florida State Seminoles

Leonard Hamilton is an all-time coach, underrated in the pantheon of recent college basketball greats. But his Florida State Seminoles have faltered in 2022 and are off to a terrible start this season, which could result in Hamilton’s first losing season since 2004-05.

First, let’s look at last season. Florida State went 6-4 in the first portion of the 2021-22 season before the calendar flipped. The program largely hung around .500 for the rest of the campaign, losing immediately in the ACC Tournament and missing the first held postseason in seven years.

Despite the disappointing season and some significant departures, Florida State was expected to be back in good shape this season, with Caleb Mills and Matthew Cleveland both back in the fold. The program wasn’t ranked to start the year, but it did receive some votes.

Votes are not wins. Perhaps hidden by the woes of another ACC power’s struggles to open the season, not as many paid attention to the Seminoles winning only one of its first ten games of the campaign, a nine-point win over Mercer. Tucked around that victory were losses to the likes of Stetson, Troy, and Siena.

Florida State did manage to win three of its last four entering a Dec. 31 trip to Duke. The competition level wasn’t high, but maybe it’s a chance for the Seminoles to start moving toward a happier 2023.

Hamilton has been in Tallahassee for more than 20 years (and doesn’t look like he’s aged a day), but he won’t be around forever. The turning of the calendar may mark the beginning of an era shift for the Seminoles.