ACC Preview #14 - Florida State

Florida State may be in a tough spot

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Much like Virginia Tech’s Mike Young, barring a solid season, Leonard Hamilton’s time at Florida State may be coming to an end.

Hamilton, who has had a solid run at Florida State, peaked out before the pandemic and his program has not recovered since.

Hamilton won 29 games in 2018-19 and 26 in 2019-20, the year the tournament was canceled. Since then, the ‘Noles have gone 18-17, 17-14, 9-23 and 17-16 last season.

For the mathematically challenged, Mr. Calculator says that’s a four-year run of 61-60. That would be tough for anyone to overcome in Year 22, but Hamilton just turned 76. He looks incredibly youthful for his age, but there’s no getting around the actuarial table here. He isn’t that far from 80 and a rebuild at this point is going to be very difficult.

Making it more difficult: nine departures.

Darin Green, Jaylan Gainey and Josh Nickelberry have seen their eligibility expire and six others have transferred: Primo Spears is at UTSA, Cam Corhen is at Pitt, Baba Miller is off to FAU, Jalen Warley is a Wahoo, Cam’Ron Fletcher is at Xavier, De’Ante Green is at South Florida, Tom House is at Furman and Sola Abedisi is at The Citadel. Waka Mbatch entered the portal too but ultimately decided to stay.

Aside from Mbatch, Jamir Watkins, Chandler Jackson, Taylor Bol Bowen and Jason Simpson return.

Watkins, a 6-7 senior, averaged 15.6 ppg last season. Jackson, a 6-5 junior who showed some flashes, put up 4.9. Bol Bowen, a 6-10/195 lb. sophomore, put up 3.1 ppg.

The portal taketh away but it also giveth and for FSU, the portal serves up Bostyn Holt, a 6-7 senior from South Dakota, Jerry Deng, a 6-9 sophomore from Hampton, Justin Thomas, a 6-7 junior, arrives from UTSA in sort of a trade for Spears, while Malique Ewin is a 6-11/230 lb. junior who was at South Plains Community College.

Five freshmen join the party: Alier Maluk, 7-0/218 lb., DaQuan Davis, a 6-1 guard from Baltimore, Anastasios Rozakeas, a 6-7 guard from Greece, Christian Nitu, 6-11/220 lbs. from Ontario, and A.J. Swinton, a 6-6 wing from Maryland.

So can Florida State recover?

Well...maybe. There are some intriguing pieces.

Obviously Watkins has proved himself. Jackson is never going to be a phenom, but he understands the system and he’ll be in the rotation.

Deng has a lot of potential and can shoot, though like a lot of FSU’s bigs, is really thin. Ewin, who is not thin, will probably start at center and he was well regarded in high school. Holt and Thomas? Too early to say.

Nitu is an intriguing player. Florida State’s Web site pumps him like the second coming of Larry Bird. He won’t fly that high, but he could be a surprise. He may be a little under the radar at this point, but if FSU’s description of his game isn’t all smoke, he could be interesting.

Maluk, Davis and Swinton all have talent.

Maluk actually reclassified and came a year early. He’s thin, but he could force his way into the starting lineup. He’s very mobile and he can score from the perimeter on in. He may need to bulk up first though.

Davis, who originally committed to Providence, could emerge as the starting point guard and FSU needs one. He could be the key to a solid season.

Swinton is a solid athlete and is a multi-level scorer. If he’s ready for ACC-level competition, he could do well.

As for Rozakeas, it’s hard to say since he is Greek and most people haven’t seen much of him stateside. Seminoles.com quoted Hamilton when he committed, saying this: “Anastasios brings a very mature mindset to our program. He has the ability to play multiple positions – he can bring the ball up the court as well as rebound. He brings a complete skill set to our team – he is a good decision maker, a strong ball handler, can pass and shoot, and is well-schooled in the fundamentals of basketball. He’s going to fit in very well immediately with the players on our roster.”

Florida State is a tough team to figure out, mostly because while the newcomers have talent, you don’t know if they’re all ready for this level of competition.

And while Hamilton looks like a nonagenarian, there’s no getting around 76. Mike Krzyzewski was a great exception in his later coaching career because he kept innovating and made it a point to keep learning. Most people don’t do that, and most older coaches, like the rest of us, get set in their ways. They don’t make a lot of changes and it’d be foolish to expect Hamilton to do that.

He’ll still rely on pressure defense. He’ll still shuttle his players in and out faster than anyone in the ACC. His point guard will be less important than those of most ACC teams because of how he shuttles people in and out. Turnovers may be an issue as they have been in years past.

The question here is whether he’s put together enough good pieces to make a difference. If he has, FSU will be competitive again.

If not?

There may be immense pressure on him to retire.