The Seminoles are here to stay

We’re a basketball school. After three straight Sweet 16 appearances, Florida State has cemented itself as a perennial national championship contender. With Blue Bloods like Duke and Chapel Hill regressing, Florida State looks to take control of the ACC for years to come.

Florida State has turned into a Basketball Factory. With 2 NBA draft picks in the Top 11 in 2020, the New Bloods don’t seem to be slowing down. It all starts with Coach Ham. Before Florida State, Leonard Hamilton was the Head Coach at University of Miami (UM). It took Ham eight years to make his first NCAA Tournament in Miami. Similarly, it took him seven years to get his first tourney appearance at Florida State. 

Is this supposed to be frowned upon?

 No. But instead, applauded. 

It shows that Ham builds a system, Rome wasn’t built overnight. Albeit might take time, once the ball gets rolling...there’s no looking back. Terance Mann described Coach Ham as a father figure...never asking about basketball. Instead, checking in on his players routinely to ask about their personal life, academics, etc. It’s a family at Florida State. 

Here’s the Terance Mann interview. We discuss his Welcome to the NBA Moment, FSU’s Elite 8 Run, and how he’s learned from the vets and coaches within the Clippers Locker Room.

Similarly to the New York Knicks, FSU takes pride in their depth. Being able to have a second-5 that is just as productive as their first, is massive. With this luxury, the Seminoles are able to evenly rotate and distribute minutes, allowing each player to be fresh on defense. Seeing the Nets’ Big 3 with Harden, Kyrie, and KD prompted the Knicks to dub themselves “The Big 15”.

Would the Knicks love to grab a Top 10 NBA Player? Of course. But they choose who joins their team based on culture fit. The same can be said for the New Bloods.

Photo From: College Football News

But times are changing…

With Big Time players out of high school [Scottie Barnes] committing to FSU, the sky's the limit for this basketball program. To join this team, you have to let your ego go. Scottie was the No. 8 Player in his class when he signed with FSU. He won ACC Sixth-Man of the Year. Did he average 36 minutes a game that his contemporaries at other colleges did? 

No. 

He learned valuable information that could not be acquired anywhere else. He learned how to be a pro. How to fit into a system and affect the game immediately, in ways that don’t just involve scoring.

We see the same immediate impact with players like Terance Mann, Patrick Williams, Trent Forrest and more, in the NBA. They were able to find their strength, and lean on it. Patrick Williams has shown flashes of his 3&D capabilities, along with Terance Mann serving as a Swiss army knife for the Clippers.

Photo from: NBA.com

Patrick Williams was drafted No.4 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Ceiling Is The Roof

To make their situation even better, FSU finished with the No. 3 overall recruiting class heading into the upcoming 2021-2022 season. Players coming out of high school have caught on, Tallahassee is the place to be.

 Five Seminoles have declared for the NBA Draft following their Sweet Sixteen appearance last season.

Spots need to be filled, it’s time for players to take on bigger roles in order to keep the tradition of success alive, in the Tucker Center.