Leonard Hamilton, the conference’s longest-tenured men’s basketball coach, ended his collegiate career with an opening-round loss to Syracuse on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, not far from where he grew up in Gastonia.

Leonard Hamilton's legendary career at Florida State ended Tuesday with an early-round exit from the men's ACC tournament. What he said:

Coaching his final basketball game at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, so close to his hometown, would represent something of a full circle moment for Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.

The Florida State Seminoles realized they needed to find a new head coach at the beginning of February when Leonard Hamilton announced he would not return as the program’s head coach next year. The Seminoles acted quickly, hiring former player Luke Loucks as their new leader last week.

Legendary FSU basketball coach Leonard Hamilton deserves a sold-out Donald L. Tucker Center for one last time on Saturday vs. SMU. Here's why.

Leonard Hamilton got his first college coaching job as an assistant coach at Austin Peay just before his 23rd birthday. It was the start of a career that took him to Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Miami and the NBA before he became synonymous with Florida State basketball.

Loucks will be stepping into Hamilton's shoes after playing a key role as a player in FSU's first ACC Championship run in 2012.

Both teams combined 4 for 24 from the 3-point line. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Syracuse controlled most of the game by attacking the paint. It won the physical battle by scoring 44 points in the paint and grabbing 42 rebounds.