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Leonard Hamilton during an interview at Gaston College on the day he was inducted in the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in June 2023.
Leonard Hamilton during an interview at Gaston College on the day he was inducted in the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in June 2023.
Posted: Feb 17, 2026

ACC Legend: Gaston College alumnus Leonard Hamilton's life story to be highlighted on ACC Network

One of Gaston College's most accomplished alumni will be honored on February 23 as a biographical documentary called "ACC Legend" will be done in Leonard Hamilton's honor.

A a racial pioneer for the school when he played basketball at Gaston College from 1966 to 1968, Hamilton's life and career will be on display in the debut of "ACC Legend Leonard Hamilton" at 7 p.m. on February 23. An encore presentation will be shown at 8 p.m. on the same network.

The ACC program, in conjunction with Raycom Sports, has visited Gaston College and Hamilton's Gastonia home, high school and church in addition to Hamilton's four-year college UT-Martin and his coaching roots at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., the University of Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Miami, Fla., and Florida State.

Hamilton retired after last season as the 84th-winningest major college men's basketball coach in history with 660 coaching wins as head coach at Oklahoma State, Miami and Florida State.

A 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association Foundation Hall of Fame inductee at the Hilton Charlotte University Place, Hamilton is the winningest coach in the history of Florida State men's basketball (460) and one of four ACC coaches with 200 or more ACC regular season victories.

The Gastonia native played baseball, basketball and football at the city's old all-African-American Highland High School. He then became one of the first two African-American athletes in Gaston College history when he played for the school in the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. He also helped Gaston College advanced to its first NJCAA national tournament competition when it participated in the 1968 NJCAA Region 10 playoffs.

He scored 971 points in his two-year career, highlighted by a single-game, school-record 54-point effort during his senior season.

After a standout two-year career at UT-Martin from 1969 to 1971, Hamilton began his coaching career that was highlighted in 2012 by becoming the first African-American head coach to win an ACC title in addition to earning UPI National Coach of the Year (1995), Big East Coach of the Year (1995, 1999), ACC Coach of the Year (2009, 2012, 2020) and the prestigious Ben Jobe Award (2021).