Florida State basketball was mired in its longest losing streak in nine years when it gave Leonard Hamilton a two-year contract extension last February. The Seminoles had dropped five straight and were on their way to missing the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season, but the program never lost sight of the big picture amid a rough stretch.
Florida State basketball is finally turning blue-chip talent into actual wins
The Seminoles are off to the best start in program history, just in time for a ferocious stretch in the ACC.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Hamilton had a talented group of freshmen already on campus, with another elite recruiting class on its way. If he could continue stacking blue-chip recruits, Florida State hoped it was only a matter of time before it returned to basketball relevance.
It’s finally happening this season. Florida State is off to the best start in program history at 15-1. When the ’Noles host Duke on Tuesday night, Florida State will enter at No. 9, its highest ranking since the 1992-93 season when Sam Cassell, Bobby Sura, and Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward led FSU to the Elite Eight.
Florida State has won 11 straight, which includes wins over then-No. 21 Florida, No. 12 Virginia, and No. 21 Virginia Tech. We’re about to find out how good this team really is. Here’s a look at Florida State’s next four games:
Hamilton has long had a reputation as one of the sport’s most feared recruiters. Now he has a roster that reflects that. There’s a few reasons to believe FSU can compete with the top of the ACC, and in turn, anyone in the country.
Florida State has five-star talent producing at an elite level
No player personifies Florida State’s ability to turn wins on the recruiting trail into actual wins this season like Dwayne Bacon. The 6’7 wing was the most touted recruit in FSU history when he committed as the No. 14 prospect in the class of 2015, per ESPN. After an up-and-down freshman year, Bacon is playing like the star he was supposed to be as a sophomore.
Just ask Virginia. Bacon turned in one of the best performances of the season when he scored 26 second-half points to rally Florida State over the ’Hoos, including a dagger three in the final seconds.
No one beats Virginia at home, where Tony Bennett’s team had lost just once in its first 36 games in the ACC. Bacon essentially did it by himself. He’s averaging over 18 points per game on an impressive 58.1 true shooting percentage, while cutting down on his turnovers and improving as a three-point shooter (37.1 percent).
Bacon is currently projected as the No. 41 pick in the 2017 NBA draft, but Florida State has another player who will go much higher. That’s Jonathan Isaac, the 6’10 freshman forward who made Bacon’s stay as FSU’s most-touted recruit ever short-lived. Isaac was the No. 12 player in the class of 2016, per ESPN, and he’s done an impressive job blending in with a veteran team in his first year of college basketball.
Isaac is the type of oversized wing shooter every team covets, and he’s putting those tools to good use so far. He’s second on the team in scoring (12.2 points per game) and first in rebounding with a sterling true shooting percentage of 62.7.
Isaac’s combination of shooting range and length is the reason he could be a top-five draft pick in June. More impressively from Florida State’s perspective, he’s allowed the game to come to him and rarely looks for his own numbers.
Florida State is huge, but still plays fast
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Florida State is Hamilton has been able to build an absolutely massive roster without sacrificing speed. Florida State is No. 2 in “average height” according to KenPom while still posting the 14th-shortest time of possession in the country.
Florida State’s size is most evident when Michael Ojo or Christ Koumadje is on the floor. Ojo is a true giant at 7’1, 304 pounds, while Koumadje is listed at 7’4 (!), 233 pounds. The basketball looks like a walnut in their hands:
Ojo and Koumadje combine to play 24 minutes per game for Florida State, but it’s still a big team with both of them off the floor. Hamilton has size at every position:
Position | Player | Height | Weight |
|---|
That’s every player in the rotation for Florida State. Yes, all 12 of them.
Florida State is deep
The short rotation is a staple in college basketball, from Mike Krzyzewski consistently riding seven players in the NCAA tournament to Jim Boeheim cutting his rotation to just six recently at Syracuse. Florida State is going the other way. Hamilton has a deep bench and so far he’s giving everyone an opportunity.
Florida State has 12 players averaging at least 9.4 minutes per game. The ’Noles have toughness inside with Jarquez Smith and Phil Cofer, shooting with Braian Angola-Rodas and P.J. Savoy, and athleticism on the wing with Trent Forrest. Freshman point guard C.J. Walker has also been a revelation. He scored 13 points in 13 minutes in his first ACC game against Wake Forest.
There are few off nights in the ACC and Florida State is about to enter the toughest stretch of its schedule. If nothing else, the ’Noles are finally in position to break their NCAA tournament drought. The next four games could reveal how far they go after that.
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