After a highly successful season in which they reached the NCAA Tournament and lost in the ACC Tournament finals, the Seminoles aim to prove that they are not one-season wonders.
This season however, Florida State will not have departed point guard Toney Douglas, taken 29th in the 2009 NBA Draft. Douglas leaves a huge scoring hole, having averaged 21.5 points per game last season. Douglas was also the only Seminole to average more than nine points per game last year.
Head coach Leonard Hamilton is not expecting any one player to step up.
“I want to have a lot of different guys averaging double figures,” Hamilton said. “The go-to guy might just be the open guy.”
Sophomore center Solomon Alabi, who led the team in rebounding last season with 5.6 rebounds per game, also feels the team is ready to deal with Douglas’ departure.
Alabi led the ACC in blocked shots last year, just the seventh freshman in conference history to do so, and was was named to the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List.
And with five freshmen having played last year, the Seminoles feel the experience the current sophomores gained will mean they will avoid a drop in performance this year.
“We now have experience under our belt,” sophomore Chris Singleton said. “Watching Toney… motivated us to be able to do the same things.”
The strong showing by the Seminoles last season surprised many fans and raised expectations, but the players believe this team is prepared to deal with the added pressure.
“Ever since we were little kids, we just wanted to play on the big stages, and here we are,” Singleton said.
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