For FSU, everyone involved

LOS ANGELES — Florida State takes its win-by-committee philosophy seriously.

The Seminoles crowded six players on the dais with coach Leonard Hamilton on Friday for their news conference at the Staples Center. They were required to bring only five, but nobody gets left out on this team.

Most coaches shorten their bench the closer they get to the Final Four, but Hamilton won’t consider going away from his 11-man rotation. As a result, every player believes he’s as important as his teammates.

“The coaches preach all the time it’s going to be a different guy every night,” forward Phil Cofer said. “Everybody is locked into helping each other.”

No. 9 seed Florida State (23-11) plays No. 3 seed Michigan (31-7) on Saturday in the West Region final. A victory would move the Seminoles into the Final Four for the second time in school history. They lost to UCLA in the 1972 national championship game.

“We always envisioned this and we always talked about it,” guard Terance Mann said. “So to finally be here definitely means a lot.”

The Seminoles have knocked off three higherseeded teams in the NCAA tournament, including No. 1 Xavier in the second round.

With Michigan and its 12-game winning streak looming, Hamilton is eager to see his players create more memories.

“I hope that my reward would be to see the smiles on their face and hear their tone of voice and the excitement in it if we can win this game,” he said.