Colleges

Seminoles get a fresh jolt of post presence

In a rarity, a freshman is starting for Leonard Hamilton.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published November 23, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Power forward Julian Vaughn fills big need.

As he spun into the lane, Florida State freshman power forward Julian Vaughn recognized that a second Georgia State big man was closing in on him.

"I saw Casaan Breeden open and I didn't think about it; I just got him the ball," he said.

Breeden had an easy dunk but don't dismiss it as just another first-half play in what would be a 78-48 rout on Tuesday. It wasn't. Vaughn's savvy, unselfish play is the kind you don't always expect from a collegiate newbie and the kind the Seminoles haven't seen enough of by a post player - of any age - in quite a while.

And that kind of play is why coach Leonard Hamilton already has had Vaughn, 18, in the starting lineup three times, including the season opener against Nicholls State; no other freshman had started his first game in Hamilton's previous five seasons.

Not Von Wafer. Not Alexander Johnson. Not Al Thornton.

"He is one of the guys whose play means an awful lot to us," Hamilton said. "He has unlimited potential and, in order for us to be effective, he's going to have to step up and play not like a lot of freshmen do."

The Seminoles (4-2), in Gainesville tonight for the annual intrastate showdown with the youthful No. 25-ranked Gators (5-0), feature talented, experienced perimeter players:

Senior guards Isaiah Swann, Jason Rich and Ralph Mims and junior point guard Toney Douglas. Even their top big man, junior Uche Echefu, is at his best offensively away from the basket.

What they need in a big way is someone on the inside. Sophomore Ryan Reid, a starter in the last two games and three overall, has the size at 6 feet 8, 237 pounds to rebound and defend, but remains unrefined as an offensive threat. Touted 7-1 freshman center Solomon Alabi has been slowed by a stress fracture in his right shin that has limited him to brief appearances in three games.

That leaves Vaughn, the 6-10, 239-pound standout who finished up at the renowned Oak Hill Academy, leading it to a 40-1 record and mythical national title.

He didn't exactly light up the scoreboard, averaging a modest 8.2 points, but he did fill up the scorebook, averaging 10.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocks thanks to a 7-foot-3 wing span. Little wonder Scout.com national analyst Dave Telep rated him the No. 34 top prospect. Little wonder that powers such as Kentucky and Pittsburgh were wooing him.

"I saw him a lot in high school," Florida coach Billy Donovan said of Vaughn. "I think he's a very, very gifted frontcourt player. He's got great size. He's got very good hands. He can finish around the basket with his left and right. I think a lot of times in high school when you're as tall as he is, you don't get maybe a chance to step away and shoot the ball, but he's got a very good touch. I think he'll end up being a 3-point shooter for them in time. I think he's a really good player who's got a great future."

Is the future now?

Hamilton isn't afraid to rely on freshmen, he's just rarely done so. At Oklahoma State, he did, but the players in question were Richard Dumas, Byron Houston and current FSU assistant Corey Williams; all three went onto the NBA. At Miami, he started Tim James and John Salmons from essentially the get-go, too, and they also ended up in the NBA.

At FSU, Hamilton started Todd Galloway once in 2002-03, the eighth game; Johnson 16 times in 2003-04, but not until the 18th game; then Rich 11 times in 2004-05, but his starting debut came in the eighth game.

"It kind of shocked me at first," Vaughn said of his opening night status. "It's definitely a great honor that they thought that highly of me, but I can't stop working or get complacent. I just want to keep trying to improve."

He was solid in the opener (eight points, four rebounds in 20 minutes), struggled off the bench against USF in a loss Sunday at Daytona Beach (no points, two rebounds in 16 minutes) and solid again against Georgia State (eight points, three rebounds, two blocks in 16 minutes). He is averaging 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds and leads the team with eight blocks.

"He's way ahead of most freshmen and he's helping us a lot," said Echefu, who was a high school teammate of Vaughn's in 2003-04 at Montrose Christian.

"Julian's really coming along," Douglas added. "We have the guard play. We're going to be an excellent team if we also have an inside presence and he brings that."

[Last modified November 22, 2007, 23:23:03]