Colleges

FSU knows blame falls on itself

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton disappointed that Selection Sunday went terribly wrong for a second straight year.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 12, 2007

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TAMPA - Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton is, to say the least, disappointed that Selection Sunday went terribly wrong for a second straight year, but he's more motivated than anything.

"It's easy for me to voice all my frustration at the committee and compare myself with other teams they did select," he said, something he, FSU administrators and fans and even ACC coaches did last year ad nauseam. "I realize now it's all on us and what we do.

"We can't rely on the committee or the strength of schedule of our league. We've got to put ourselves in the position where there's absolutely no doubt that we deserve a bid. That's what we have to do and understand as a staff and as a program. We have to go into it with the mind-set that we cannot be close."

The Seminoles 20-12, who are a No. 2 seed in the North Region of the 32-team NIT and will host Toledo (19-12, 14-2 Mid-American at 6 p.m. Tuesday (on ESPNU), have been there and done that each of the past two seasons.

NCAA Division I men's basketball selection committee chairman Gary Walters said his group considered FSU a good team but looked at its "full body of work" in the ACC and, "As a result, we felt they fell just short of meriting inclusion."

The Seminoles sat 5-4 in the league, winners of three straight, going into a game at Clemson on Feb. 7. Early in the second half, sophomore point guard Toney Douglas, their second-leading scorer, fractured a bone in his right (shooting) hand and missed the rest of that game and the next five. FSU went 1-5 in those six games and finished 7-9 in the ACC.

"I'd like to think we could have won two or three of those games had we not had the unfortunate injury," said Hamilton, who had his players at his house to watch the selection show. "But the things you can control, you need to control. That's what I'm taking away from this scenario.

"You can't leave yourself open for any type of mix-ups. We've got to improve the quality of our depth of our team in all positions. We're not in a position with our program where we can look for the sympathy vote because of injury."

Hamilton admits he was surprised he lost both center Alexander Johnson (early to the NBA) and heralded center Jon Kreft (scholarship rescinded after arrest on drug charges before arriving on campus) and that left FSU thin up front. He can't let that happen again. He didn't tweak the system when he lost Douglas, and he's second-guessing that now.

"I thought we had all our bases covered, but it's obvious now that we need to make sure that we are as prepared as possible to deal with all unfortunate situations," he said. "I am much more motivated and eager to get out of this position where we're on the bubble."

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347.

Fast Facts:

First-round NIT matchups

Tuesday

Miss. Valley St. at Miss. St.

Utah St. at Michigan

Toledo at Florida St.

Delaware St. at West Virginia

Alabama at UMass

N.C. State at Drexel

Marist at Oklahoma St.

Wednesday Providence at Bradley Austin Peay at Air Force

Fresno St. at Georgia

Hofstra at DePaul

Vermont at Kansas St.

E. Tennessee St. at Clemson

Appalachian St. at Mississippi

San Diego St. at Missouri St.

South Alabama at Syracuse

Second-round games are March 15-19, and the quarterfinals are March 20-22. The semifinals (March 27) and final (March 29) are at Madison Square Garden. For the bracket, go to www.nit.org.

[Last modified March 12, 2007, 00:40:40]