| |
LOCATION: Tallahassee, FL
CONFERENCE: Atlantic Coast (ACC)
LAST SEASON: 13-17
CONFERENCE RECORD: 5-11 (t-7th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Seminoles
COLORS: Garnet & Gold
HOMECOURT: Tallahassee-Leon Co. Civic Center (12,200)
COACH: Steve Robinson (Radford '81)
record at school 31-31 (2 years)
career record 77-49 (4 years)
|
ASSISTANTS: Coleman Crawford (N. Alabama '75)
Jim Platt (Concordia '73)
Tim Juhlin (Northern Iowa '90)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 12-13-20-18-13
RPI (last 5 years) 67-90-42-40-55
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference second round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
|
It's understandable that third-year Florida State coach Steve Robinson wanted to recruit "big" this off-season, but this borders on ridiculous. With 7-2 center Karim Shabazz unexpectedly leaving the program before Christmas last year, the Seminoles were stuck playing a lineup with two limited frontcourt players, 6-8 Oliver Simmons (5.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and 6-10 Justin Mott (1.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg). Simmons and Mott gave up two to four inches and more than 40 pounds to their opponents. Both transferred into the program Simmons from Kentucky, Mott from Barton County (Kan.) Community College, where he was not a starter with thoughts of being role players. They suddenly became starters after Shabazz left. After watching his two frontcourt players barely average seven points a game and instill absolutely no fear in anyone, Robinson knew he had to find someone who could step in immediately up front. What he found were three frontcourt projects, none of whom were considered big-time prospects, drawing more questions about Robinson's recruiting abilities in college basketball's premier conference. One of his players, however, is definitely big: Freshman Nigel Dixon, who arrived on campus at 6-10, 424 pounds. Dixon even dwarfs every player on the Seminoles' No. 1 ranked football team. But can he play? That's the question that will be asked of every player Robinson has recruited for the post. Simmons and Mott were hardly the answer. Can Dixon, or 6-10, 230-pound freshman Mike Matthews, or 7-0, 245-pound sophomore David Anderson, a transfer from Brigham Young fresh off a two-year mission trip, be any better?
|
Blue Ribbon Analysis |
|
BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES D
Going into his third season with the Seminoles, coach Steve Robinson is being questioned on his ability to recruit and build a program in Tallahassee. His critics agree that he is a better coach, on and off the court, than his predecessor (Pat Kennedy). Robinson, however, is taking heat for his inability to bring in big-time prospects. The arrival of Tony Bobbitt was supposed to put out that fire, but he didn't qualify. If the Seminoles don't get a major frontcourt recruit in the early signing period, the burners will slow ly start turning up again, especially if the five lowly regarded post players he has now do nothing to contribute to the Seminoles' improvement. Robinson, who got a two-year contract extension last winter from FSU athletic director Dave Hart, is unaffected, at least publicly, by the outside criticism. "I think better days are definitely ahead of us," Robinson said. "I think we will be successful and I think we will do the best job we can do." But he still has to bring in better players for that to happen. |
"We won't know until we see them in here how we will be able to utilize them," Robinson said. "We expect them to come in and compete for some opportunities to get out on the floor. "I think they are competitive enough and talented enough to do that. It's going to be up to those guys who are returning to fight and keep up their position. It's not guaranteed by any means right now. We have some young kids who want to play and who will have the opportunity to play and we have some veteran seniors who are going to have to work hard to keep those guys from taking their place and their court time." Matthews, who averaged 11.2 points and 8.4 rebounds at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy, is a Tallahassee native who spent a year at prep school. He is almost as limited offensively as Mott and Simmons. Dixon (14.9 ppg, 11.1 rpg, Edgewater HS/Orlando, Fla.) needs to be much lighter to survive the rigors of the ACC. Anderson (1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg at Brigham Young in 1996-97) has been away from the game for two years and could be a redshirt candidate. Robinson admits that he was scrambling to find post players and missed out on more than a half-dozen recruits with better credentials than the three he landed. "I don't think we could ever predict or foresee some of the things that happened in terms of losing a kid like Karim," Robinson said. "It does affect you. There are not many guys of that size just wandering around. It kind of hurts your program, but it was a setback that we have to overcome. "We are making progress. I like where we are. Things are starting to level off more than they have been in the past." Robinson was encouraged about the rest of his team after a seven-game exhibition tour of Australia in August. He saw good things from 6-6, 220-pound senior forward Damous Anderson (11.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and 6-8, 210-pound senior forward Ron Hale (16.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) although the Seminoles didn't win a game on the trip. "One of the things you have to realize is that we played their NBA teams," Robinson said. "Australian basketball is really pretty good. Most people, when they take a trip like that, are going to play some (weak teams). We played the best. I think the only negative about it is that we are not ready to play in the Australian NBA." The question is, are the Seminoles ready to play in the ACC? Robinson loses only one player from last season, shooting guard Terrell Baker (14.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg), and he feels good about the experience he has on the wings, where he has a big small forward and a small big forward, both with star potential. Hale, who played small forward at 6-8, finally blossomed into the scoring threat most people thought he could be. He became one of the ACC's most improved players, averaging 18.3 points in ACC games, behind only Jason Collier, Elton Brand and Terrell McIntyre. He was obviously the Seminoles' most consistent and most dangerous player last year. "I've always known I was capable of doing that," said Hale, who had a career-high 31 points in a victory over Clemson. "But with a lot of upperclassmen on the team the previous two years, I wasn't asked to score. I knew I would have to score, so I have been more assertive." Anderson made an immediate impact after he was declared eligible last December, despite being constantly outsized. Anderson, who started out playing for Eddie Fogler at South Carolina, left there and spent one year at Atlanta Metro Junior College, where he earned All-America honors. However, he didn't graduate from Atlanta Metro until late, and that caused problems with his eligibility. He was cleared to play on Dec. 20 and made an immediate impact as a power forward, using his speed and quickness to offset the problems the Seminoles had in the post. FSU won five of its first seven conference games, creating immediate thoughts of postseason play. However, Robinson's limited lineup was exposed the second time around the ACC, and the Seminoles lost nine of their final 10 regular-season games. Anderson started only 10 games after he became eligible. After performing well in Australia, he should be solidly entrenched in the starting lineup this year. "He played big in Australia," Robinson said. "He showed his versatility. He was comfortable in competing. Ron Hale, at times, dominated play. Both of those young men will be expected to lead our team. They showed some signs that they are definitely ready for that kind of challenge." One of the ways Robinson expects them to lead is by teaching 6-8 freshman recruit Rodney Tucker (20.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg, Stone Mountain (Ga.) HS) a few things about playing in the ACC. Tucker, an underrated high school player with plenty of athletic ability, will be an understudy to Hale and Anderson, with big expectations next year. Also getting experience behind the two starters will be 6-5, 190-pound sophomore Antwuan Dixon (1.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg), who played well down the stretch last year as Hale's backup. He should get more than the 4.5 minutes per game he averaged as a freshman. In the backcourt, the Seminoles aren't quite as loaded as they thought they would be, thanks primarily to the absence of swingman recruit Tony Bobbitt, a top prospect from the Daytona Beach, Fla., high school that gave the ACC Vince Carter. Bobbitt failed to qualify academically, and is spending this year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. Bobbitt was one of the top high school players in the country and claims to have been a Florida State basketball fan his entire life. Recruiting analysts saw his commitment to the Seminoles as a turning point in Robinson's brief tenure in Tallahassee. A slasher by nature, Bobbitt showed that he could also shoot when he made eight three-point shots and scored 32 points in 20 minutes in the ACC-SEC All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C., last April. Bobbitt would have pushed 6-5 junior Adrian Crawford (10.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg) for the starting job at wing guard, though he may not have displaced him. Crawford is the son of FSU assistant coach Coleman Crawford. They both traveled to Tallahassee with Robinson from Tulsa. Crawford spent last season as the Seminoles' sixth man, coming off the bench to replace either Baker at shooting guard or 5-11 junior point guard Delvon Arrington (8.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 181 assists), who beat Crawford out and became the starter at the point. Crawford proved himself to be a good outside shooter, leading the team with 64 three-pointers. He has the best returning three-point percentage (.398) of any player in the ACC and should easily step into Baker's starting spot. He will get support from 6-3, 175-pound sophomore shooting guard Emanuel Mathis (1.6 ppg, 0.5 rpg), a long-range bomber who saw limited action last year playing behind Baker and Crawford. A big-time scorer at a small-time high school, Mathis is still adjusting to college basketball's highest level. Arrington, in his first year of competition, ranked third in the ACC and 17th in the nation last year in assists (6.0 apg). He also was third in the ACC with 2.1 steals per game. Arrington, who sat out as a freshman, is more of a true play-making point guard in the mold of North Carolina's Ed Cota. He doesn't score a lot of points (13 was his top total last year) but he runs the offense with speed. It's the efficiency he has to work on. He committed 129 turnovers last year, second only to Georgia Tech's Tony Akins. The backcourt gets practice support from walk-on players Matt Chlebek (0.5 ppg, 0.1 rpg) and Chris Hull (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg). Chlebek, a 6-0 junior, played in 17 games last season, a significant decrease from his freshman season when made the team in an open tryout and spent the season as Kerry Thompson's backup. He may get more opportunities to play this year as Crawford moves to the shooting-guard spot. Hull, a 6-3 junior, also made the team after an open tryout and played in only three games.
 | The 19th edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is on sale now. To order, call 800-828-HOOP (4667), or visit their web site at
http://www.collegebaskets.com
|
| |
Conferences
America East
ACC
Atlantic 10
Big East
Big Sky
Big South
Big Ten
Big 12
Big West
Colonial
Conference USA
Independents
Ivy League
MAAC
Mid-American
Mid-Continent
Mid-Eastern Athletic
MCC
Missouri Valley
Mountain West
Northeast
Ohio Valley
Pac-10
Patriot
SEC
Southern
Southland
Sun Belt
SWAC
TAAC
WAC
West Coast
|
