Although the Seminoles unveiled a spiffy new uniform for the 2007-2008 season, the players who will take the court for Florida State this season should look very familiar.
Returning four veteran starters to their lineup, including senior guards Jason Rich and Isaiah Swann, the Seminoles look to build off last year's 22-13 record and a ninth-place conference finish by using their wealth of experience.
There is bad news, however. The one starter who Florida State won't return is its dominant big man from last season, Al Thornton. The 6-foot-9 forward-drafted 14th overall by the Clippers in June-was the Seminoles' leading scorer with 19.7 points per game and an irrefutable game-breaker.
Luckily for Florida State, head coach Leonard Hamilton brought in a solid recruiting class including 7-foot-1 Solomon Alabi, an all-state high school prospect from Florida, and sensational Oak Hill forward Julian Vaughn. Both players should bolster a promising frontcourt.
For the Seminoles to make a leap this year and finish in the top half of the ACC or break their nine-year NCAA Tournament drought, at least two things need to happen. First, someone needs to fill the huge void left by Thornton, who was physically and intangibly the Florida State leader. A solid core of senior players should help ease that loss.
Second, the Seminoles need to lose less when they are away from Tallahassee after posting a sub-par 4-9 record on the road last season.
Swann couldn't be more confident or excited in his team's ability to do that and take the program to the next level.
"If you look at the schedule we're playing, 22 out of the 31 in Florida, that's got to be an advantage," he said. "We have to go from right now, from this day forward and go on and go all out, and I think this year is that year that we're going to get in [to the NCAA Tournament] with no question."
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