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Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton Reacts To Jim Larranaga’s Sudden Miami Departure

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Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton Reacts To Jim Larranaga’s Sudden Miami Departure


Florida State and Miami will play their first matchup of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, but the opposing sideline won’t feature Jim Larranaga for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Larranaga shocked all of college basketball by stepping down as Miami’s head coach on December 26th after getting off to a 4-8 start with losses to Mount Saint Mary’s and Charleston Southern.

Leonard Hamilton was asked about Larranaga’s decision to step down in an ACC Zoom call on Monday morning and ahead of Wednesday’s game.

READ MORE: Former FSU Star Jalen Ramsey Makes Decisive Miami Dolphins Career Statement

“Jim has demonstrated that he’s a class act. He’s a guy who thinks things through,” Coach Hamilton started. “I’m sure the decision didn’t come as a knee-jerk reaction to anything particular. I’m sure it came with a lot of thought over a longer period of time and for him to have the courage to stick with his convictions and what he believed is the best thing to do, not only for his team and for the university, players that have played for him before (and it) is to be tremendously respected. I talked to very few coaches who really don’t feel some of the similar things that seems to have been on Jim’s mind. It’s just where we are. I don’t see anything coming in the future that will eliminate the reasons why he made the decision that he did, and I think I have a lot of respect for him for how he did it.”

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Coach Larranaga cited things like exhaustion and the ever-changing NIL market as reasons for stepping down. Coach Hamilton is in his own hot water with NIL after six former players sued him last week over alleged promised NIL money that was never delivered. So Hamilton can relate to some of the issues Larranaga was dealing with.

Larranaga isn’t the only ACC coach to make a shocking untimely retirement, as Virginia’s former coach Tony Bennett stepped down about a month before the season started. Leonard Hamilton was already the longest-tenured head coach in the ACC by a mile with 23 seasons in Tallahassee, with Clemson’s Brad Brownell in second with 15 seasons, but the third-longest tenured coach in the ACC after Larranaga’s and Bennett’s retiring is now Kevin Keatts at NC State, who started in 2017.

Florida State and Miami will play in Coral Gables at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

READ MORE: FSU Basketball Picks Up First ACC Win of Season, Beats Syracuse 90-74

Stick with NoleGameday for more FREE coverage of Florida State Basketball throughout the 2024-25 season

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• Florida State Adds FCS Quarterbacks Coach To Off-Field Staff

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 Former FSU Defensive End, Seminole Legacy Transferring To Third School In Three Years

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Miami, FL

Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza is coming to Miami, led by legendary pizzaiolo chef Bun

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Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza is coming to Miami, led by legendary pizzaiolo chef Bun


If you’re a diehard pizza fanatic in Miami, you’ll soon be able to check another renowned style off your list without leaving home. Arriving in October 2026, Royale Pizza Napoletana will debut at 1680 Meridian Avenue, introducing South Florida to the exceptionally precise world of Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza. This highly anticipated opening marks the monumental stateside arrival of legendary Japanese pizzaiolo Chef Bun, the mastermind behind Tokyo’s genre-defining concept, Savoy.

RECOMMENDED: Where to find the best pizza in Miami

The restaurant is the brainchild of banking entrepreneur and restaurateur Jess Varughese, the innovator behind Miami’s ultra-exclusive, members-only hotspot, Haiku. After experiencing Chef Bun’s “perfect pizzas” during a trip to Japan, Varughese envisioned bringing this science-driven culinary movement to sunny South Florida. To ensure absolute authenticity, Varughese assembled an elite culinary team. Alongside Chef Bun, the kitchen features Haiku Executive Chef Albert Diaz and Chef Dalila Sabatino, a rising pizzaiola talent praised by Bun who previously trained at Los Angeles’ acclaimed Pizzeria Sei.

Photograph: Courtesy Royale Pizza NapoletanaRoyale Pizza Napoletana

What sets Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza apart is its rigorous, chemistry-like execution. At Royale, the dough undergoes a meticulous 30+ hour fermentation process. Varughese and his team spent hundreds of hours adjusting the recipe, combining artisan flours with the Autolyse technique and even altering Miami’s water softness to match Japan’s famously soft water. Pizzas are then baked fresh in an 800-degree oven. The resulting crust achieves an ethereal balance of lightness, chewiness, char and crunch. As Varughese notes, having Chef Bun’s 20-plus years of innovation on board elevates the entire culinary game.

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Royale will be fast-casual, yet polished, with seating for 65 guests including a large community table at its center. Staying true to an accessible vibe, the restaurant will operate on a first-come, first-served walk-in basis with no reservations, though takeout and delivery will be available. You’ll order at a main counter from a carefully curated menu featuring antipasti, two pastas, two mains and seven distinct pizzas—including four traditional options and three specials. This is a pizza spot that deserves the hype, so stay up to date on their progress at @royalenapoletana ahead of the official October launch.





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Girl, 12, shot while sitting in parked car in northwest Miami-Dade, deputies say

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Girl, 12, shot while sitting in parked car in northwest Miami-Dade, deputies say


MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A 12-year-old girl was shot in the arm after gunfire erupted in a northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood early Tuesday morning, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said they responded just before 1 a.m. to the area of Northwest 64th Street and Northwest 21st Avenue in the county’s Gladeview area, where they found three vehicles struck by gunfire, including a silver Hyundai.

“The car was parked outside of the residence. It was occupied by three juveniles, so it was the girl and her two siblings that were in the vehicle. The mom was outside of the vehicle at the time, so this could have been a very different outcome,” MDSO Detective Samantha Choon said.

Authorities said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medics transported the girl to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

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A family member of the victim told Local 10’s Jackie Pascale that the girl is now home and doing OK.

They said neither her siblings nor their mother was injured in the shooting.

According to investigators, no arrests have been made, and detectives have not released any suspect information at this time.

Neighbor Marie Grimes said she was shaken after hearing multiple gunshots.

“I heard the booms — boom, boom, boom, boom — and I said, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’” she said. “Maybe five or six, ’cause look at that right there. I’m just glad the little girl is OK.”

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Investigators asked neighbors to check their surveillance or Ring camera footage from around 1 a.m. and contact authorities with any information.

Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477. Anonymous tips are accepted.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.





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South Florida mother arrested for leaving daughter chained to fence, police say

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South Florida mother arrested for leaving daughter chained to fence, police say


A Hialeah woman was arrested and charged with child neglect for leaving her 13-year-old daughter chained to her great-grandmother’s fence in the heat with no shoes or water. CBS News Miami’s Abby Dodge reports from the neighborhood where it all happened.



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