Let’s acknowledge something that has surely been said many times, but occasionally bears repeating: Leonard Hamilton can coach.
Florida State is all the better for it, too. The Seminoles nowadays don’t really go through rebuilding as a result, and this year is the latest instance of it as they are now 7-1 after beating Purdue 63-60 in overtime to win the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday.
The Seminoles have had a couple of big years recently, but this year looked primed for a dip, at least at first. They lost some very big pieces from last season’s team, especially Terance Mann, who was a huge part of their recent teams from an intangibles standpoint. He wasn’t just a producer. Older players like Trent Forrest and M.J. Walker along with emerging sophomore Devin Vassell have taken care of the production just fine, with Vassell nearly tripling his scoring and rebounding output from last season thus far and on better overall shooting (a slight dip in three-point percentage, but to a sterling 40 percent). And this team still has plenty of length and athleticism, something Florida State teams in recent years have always had in spades.
When the Seminoles lost the season opener at Pittsburgh, one had to wonder who it said more about. Was Pittsburgh quite a bit improved, with an assist from this game being at their place? Or was this a sign the Seminoles were really in for a dip? It appears to be much more of the former as the Panthers are 6-2, though one of the losses came to Nicholls at home, as they won the Fort Myers Tip-Off last weekend by beating Kansas State and Northwestern.
It’s now such a distant memory that one can easily forget that Florida State is being rewarded by showing some patience with Hamilton. They never won 20 games in his first three seasons in Tallahassee, and in his first six years had no NCAA Tournament appearances. They made the NIT four times, including three in a row by year six, and not once advanced to New York. But they stuck by him, and the following season made the first of four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run and an ACC Tournament title in 2012. After the ACC title, they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament for four years, making the NIT in three of them, before their current run of three straight that looks ready to become four come March of this year.
After Saturday night, the Seminoles have wins over Florida, Northeast Conference contender Saint Francis U, Tennessee and Purdue. That’s a strong resume right as December rolls in, and they have more chances at Indiana on Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge as well as visits from Atlantic Sun contender North Florida and South Florida.
And as a side note, it’s interesting that we talk about a long-time “football school” whose basketball team scored a big win on a Saturday in November at a time when its football program has become irrelevant. Few probably ever predicted this would happen, but the Seminoles are in a better and more stable place on the hardwood than the gridiron. That’s one more accomplishment for Hamilton, though surely not something he set out to do; he would surely like to see the football program succeeding the way it did for decades under Bobby Bowden.
Florida State bested another team whose coach can be put in the same category on Saturday night. They pulled out a game that had 10 lead changes and 11 ties and where they were out-rebounded 48-33, forcing 24 turnovers to help offset that difference. Simply put, they found a way to win, something Hamilton’s teams in Tallahassee have done quite often for well over a decade now.
Side Dishes
Tennessee took third place in the Emerald Coast Classic in dramatic fashion as Lamonte Turner hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to edge VCU 72-69 despite 22 points and 11 rebounds by VCU forward Marcus Santos-Silva.
The big result of the day was UNC Greensboro going to the nation’s capital and edging Georgetown 65-61. The Spartans, who figure to be strong contenders in the Southern Conference again, trailed by three at the half and again with under seven minutes to play, but led the rest of the way although never by more than four points, sealing the game with five free throws in the final 27 seconds. They are now 6-2, though this is by far their best win, with trips to Radford and Vermont as well as visits from NC State and Northern Kentucky still on their non-conference docket.
Other results of note: Xavier rolled over Lipscomb 87-62; Princeton got their first win of the season with an 87-77 win at Bucknell; Texas barely got past McNeese State 73-71, getting two tie-breaking free throws in the final seconds; Richmond handled Boston College 64-44 behind 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists from Jacob Gillyard; Indiana got a double-double from Trayce Jackson-Davis (19 points, 14 rebounds) for the fourth straight game to beat South Dakota State 64-50; Stephen F. Austin remained on a roll by handling Arkansas State 76-57 on the road to go to 6-1, getting 20 points and 15 rebounds from Gavin Kensmil; Cincinnati took control in overtime to beat UNLV 72-65; Tulsa went on the road to beat Vanderbilt 67-58 despite 26 points from Aaron Nesmith; Colorado remained on a roll as they handed Sacramento State their first loss, a 59-45 decision led by another double-double from Tyler Bey (11 points, 17 rebounds)
The Battle 4 Atlantis field next season was announced on Friday, and it will once again be top-notch. Creighton, Duke, Memphis, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Utah, West Virginia and Wichita State will compete on Paradise Island. Duke is a past champion of the tournament, having won in 2012.
Tonight’s Menu
The week-plus of tournaments and showcases draws to a close with a couple of big championship games leading the way.
- The final day of the Orlando Invitational gets going bright and early as Texas A&M and Fairfield battle for seventh place (10:30 a.m.), then Maryland takes on Marquette in the championship game (1 p.m.), Temple takes on Davidson for fifth place (4 p.m.) and Harvard takes on USC for third place (6 p.m.)
- The Wooden Legacy also starts bright and early with the third place game between Long Beach State and Penn (1:30 p.m.), then College of Charleston takes on UCF for fifth place (4 p.m.), Providence plays Pepperdine for seventh place (6 p.m.) and Wake Forest takes on Arizona in the championship game (9 p.m.)
- Rhode Island heads south to visit West Virginia (2 p.m.)
- A good matchup in New Haven has Vermont visiting Yale, and another good one tipping at the same time is Montana visiting New Mexico (3 p.m.)
- Bethune Cookman heads north to Georgia Tech (6 p.m.)
- A Big 5 game is on tap as La Salle visits Villanova (6:30 p.m.)
- Saint Mary’s gets another challenge at home as Summit League contender Omaha visits (8 p.m.)
