Koumadje returns to Seminoles’ lineup
The Florida State men’s basketball team may be struggling at the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play this season.
But the Seminoles hope the return of a key starter could help them get back on track. FSU’s 7-foot-4 center
Christ Koumadje is playing his way back into coach
Leonard Hamilton’s rotation after being sidelined for 11 games this season with a stress fracture in his left foot.
“The doctor cleared me, but I was like 80 percent,” Koumadje said after FSU’s 73-69 loss to Louisville on Wednesday night. “Just being out there with my teammates I felt great, but I wish we could have come out with a W because everybody fought hard.”
No. 23 FSU (12-4, 1-3 ACC) will host Syracuse (12-5, 1-3) today at 2 p.m. in the Donald L. Tucker Center in the Seminoles’ first game since Louisville snapped their 28-game home winning streak.
While the Seminoles were able to win 9 of 11 games and enter the Associated Press Top 25 rankings without Koumadje, they hope his presence can help them shore up FSU’s interior defense and rebounding in the heart of ACC play for the rest of the season.
In Koumadje’s first game as a starter for the Seminoles, he showed his ability to score as he tied his career high with 14 points while notching career bests with seven rebounds and five blocks in a win over George Washington on Nov. 14.
He averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks before being sidelined after the second game of the season.
“Christ had really made tremendous improvements from last year,” Hamilton said earlier this week. “It’s unfortunate he had the setback where people really couldn’t have an opportunity to realize it. He was playing very, very well. But it’s part of basketball, and we go through challenges all the time.”
was just getting his college football career started with the Florida Gators when he found out it was over.
The Miami Carol City three-star safety, who enrolled a semester early at UF and started spring classes this week, had “an abnormality in [his] cardiac workup” discovered in a pre-participation physical, according to a statement released by Florida senior associate athletics director
Russell posted on Twitter that he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. According to American Heart Association, it is a condition that is “a common cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young people, including young athletes.”
“It is extremely hard to believe that after going through the process of early graduation and consistently physically preparing myself for the next level, today, that all comes to an end,” Russell tweeted. “Although it may seem as if things have come to an end, I know that God has greatness in store for me.”
Carol City coach
expressed a similar sentiment of optimism for Russell’s future.
“I know he will be a great success story,” Hyppolite said “There’s no doubt in my mind, years down the line, we will be looking at a fine young man, a great leader, a great citizen, a great man of God and a great father.”
Hyppolite said there were never any signs that Russell could have such a condition while he played for Carol City.
“[He] just was a warrior, would never give up, would never slow down, just throw his body around, always had the motivation to go a step further, always wanted to put forth his best effort, always was upbeat and motivated even after a loss,” Hyppolite said.
UF will honor scholarship.
“We will be fully supportive in any way we can for Randy and his family. He will continue to be a part of the Gator football family and we will assist him in his academic pursuits at the University of Florida,” UF coach
said. “As tragic as this is for Randy and his family to hear this news, this discovery is life-saving for him.”
Last month, was also informed that he would have to give up football due to a heart condition. Russell’s Florida receiver