OFF THE GRIDIRON
Florida St. wants you to know it si a basketball school, too
LOS ANGELES — “Change the culture.’’
Those three words were spoken by every Florida State basketball player I interviewed after the Seminoles upset No. 4-seed Gonzaga in the West Region semifinal Thursday night at Staples Center to advance to Saturday’s Elite Eight showdown with Michigan.
“Change the culture’’ has several definitions, the first of which is showing the world Florida State athletics is about much more than the school’s decorated football program.
“Change the culture’’ is very much about the basketball program shouting to the world (in Tallahassee and outside of it): “Hey, don’t forget about us.’’
The accomplishments of the Florida State football program are abundant. Three national championships, 18 conference titles, six division titles, a 28-16-2 bowl record, a .678 overall winning percentage, three Heisman Trophy winners and 45 consensus All-Americans.
The football trophy case is much larger at Florida State than is the basketball trophy case.
This 23-11 Florida State basketball team is a confounding and curious group, based on its 9-9 record in ACC play and the fact that, on Selection Sunday, its players and coaches had no idea whether they would even get into the NCAA Tournament.
Yet here the Seminoles are, with a chance to make school history.
Saturday’s game against Michigan, which boasts a highly accomplished basketball program to go along with its iconic football program, is Florida State’s first trip to the Elite Eight since 1993. Beat the favored Wolverines (31-7), and the ninth-seeded Seminoles will go to the Final Four for the first time since 1972.
“Someone just told me we haven’t been to the Elite Eight in 25 years,’’ said Florida State junior guard Terance Mann, who led the Seminoles with 18 points in the win over Gonzaga. “That’s what we’re here to do, man. We’ve been talking all year about, ‘Let’s change the culture, let’s be unforgettable.’ And it’s happening before our eyes.
“Hopefully this can open a lot of people’s eyes — a lot of fans’ eyes in Tallahassee, a lot of fans’ eyes all over the place who only see Florida State as a football school. Hopefully, this can open their eyes. This basketball team is going to the Elite Eight.’’
Brandon Allen, a walk-on who played two minutes in Thursday night’s win but made a huge buzzerbeating basket at the end of the first half to give the Seminoles a ninepoint lead at the intermission, said a Final Four appearance would help change the perception of Florida State basketball.
“A big thing that we’ve talked about all year is trying to change the culture,’’ Allen said. “We’re trying to become a basketball school. The way you do that is to win a national title. So that’s the goal this season. If we do that then and change the culture, show people that Florida State is a basketball school.’’
There are no hard feelings or resentment toward the Florida State football program from the basketball players. They simply want a piece of the pie. And, having defeated three consecutive higher-seeded teams in three NCAA Tournament games this March, they’re reaching for a rather large piece right now.
“A Final Four definitely would mean a lot,’’ Allen said. “None of our coaches have even been to a Final Four and the school hasn’t been to a Final Four since, I think, the ’70s. So to do it this year we could make history. It would be something we would never forget. It definitely would be really powerful, because nobody expected it.’’
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, views “change the culture’’ in multiple ways, not only proving that the school can boast a high-power hoops program to go along with the football establishment.
“You have to understand: We are in a conference [the ACC] that has the second-, third-, fourth-, maybe the fifth- and ninth winningest programs in the history of college basketball,’’ Hamilton said. “So there’s a culture in our league that exists, and we have to work hard to carve our own niche.
“So we’re always scratching, scratching and clawing to catch up with the brothers that have earned the right to be on those lofty positions. That’s our challenge. We’re making progress.’’
Florida State, which joined the ACC in 1991, is a relative newbie in a conference that includes blue bloods like Duke, North Carolina and Virginia among other strong programs.
“The Florida State culture is definitely changing,’’ senior forward Phil Cofer said. “We’ve been counted out for all of my four years here.’’
Now they’re counted in. For the Elite Eight. And, after Saturday night, perhaps a Final Four.
“Everyone has heard about how Florida State is a football school,’’ Mann said. “No disrespect to our football team. They’re an amazing football team. But we want to get out there, too.’’
And so they have.