Jubilant ’Noles eager to make deep tourney run
TALLAHASSEE – Senior centers Michael Ojo and Jarquez Smith almost thought this day would never come.
Guards Xavier RathanMayes and Dwayne Bacon longed for this moment, especially after an offseason where their on-court relationship blossomed with motivation to reach this point.
For the first time in five years, coach Leonard Hamilton and the Florida State men’s basketball team are headed to the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m excited for our players, I really am,” Hamilton said with a smile. “This is something we want for them. We want them to enjoy the experience.”
Florida State (25-8) earned a No. 3 seed in the West Region during Sunday’s NCAA Tournament selection show, and will open the first round against No. 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast (26-7) on Thursday. Both teams will play after the 6:50 p.m. game between No. 6 Maryland (24-8) and No. 11 Xavier (21-13) at Amway Center in Orlando.
If the Seminoles advance past FGCU and the winner of Maryland/Xavier, they would head to the West Region semifinals in San Jose.
“Anytime you’re one of the top four seeds, it’s a significant position for your team and for your program. We’re moving in the right direction,” Hamilton said.
“It gives us something to be proud of, feeling like they accomplished something over the course of the year. But they have to realize now it’s a new season.
The Seminoles gathered at a local Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant for the selection show, two days after their semifinal exit in the ACC Tournament.
FSU fell to Notre Dame 77-73 on Friday night in Brooklyn after the Irish used 13 3-pointers to build an 18-point lead in the first half. The Seminoles’ comeback, and hopes to reach the ACC title game for the first time since winning it in 2012, fell short late.
Despite the loss, FSU finished as the No. 10 overall seed in the tournament field.
FSU could see No. 1-seed Gonzaga, No. 2-seed Arizona, No. 4 West Virginia or No. 5 Notre Dame in the West Regional, or face No. 1-seed Villanova, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Baylor or No. 4 Florida from the East Regional in the Final Four.
The Seminoles — led by Bacon, Rathan-Mayes, potential NBA lottery pick Jonathan Isaac and a loaded bench — are primed to put the finishing touches on one of the best seasons in school history.
But a team that delivered a 25-win regular season does bring some concern heading into the tournament.
The Seminoles started the season winning 16 of their first 18 games, including five wins during a stretch of six games against top-25 opponents.
FSU was a top-10 team for three weeks in January before two blowout road losses to unranked opponents bounced them outside the top 10.
The Seminoles finished the season 9-7 in their last 16 games against conference opponents, including 4-4 in their last eight games, with all seven of their losses coming on the road.
“In the beginning of the season we won a lot of games and got a false sense of hope,” Rathan-Mayes said. “Losing is good sometimes, just to be able to mature, go back to the drawing board, and correct some of the mistakes you made, and learn from losses. … I feel like we have the maturity and experience to go into the NCAA tournament and not repeat those mistakes.”
FSU is two wins shy of the school-record of 27, which would match the same mark as the 1972 team that lost to UCLA in the national championship game.
FSU hopes its grueling path in the ACC, which had a nation-leading nine teams make the tournament field, has equipped it for a deep run in the postseason.
“We’re battle-tested,” Isaac said. “We’ve had great wins and bad losses with this conference, and I think it just made us better.”
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