Florida State went through a difficult 17-16 season last year and turned over some of the roster and coaching staff.
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton returns to his home state at NC State at 4 p.m. Saturday in the ACC opener for both teams on ESPNU. The 76-year-old Gastonia, N.C., native brought in three four-year transfers, one junior college transfers and five freshmen for this season.
The Seminoles are off to a 7-2 start with wins over UMass and Temple, among others, and a pair of loss against SEC schools — Florida and LSU.
Overview
Florida State convinced star forward Jamir Watkins to return this season, but he has a new cast of players around him.
Former Ole Miss and junior college center Malique Twin, a 6-foot-11 junior, joins Watkins in the front court. Wings Bostyn Holt and Taylor Bol Bowen both bring good length, and sophomore point guard Chandler Jackson plays point guard at 6-5 and 205 pounds.
Rankings
Florida State is No. 73 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 120.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Seminoles ranked No. 68 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 55.
KenPom.com has Florida State at No. 63, and NCSU checks in at No. 85.
Shooting
Florida State is averaging 78.7 points per game, and is shooting 45.7 percent on the field, 32.4 percent on three-pointers and 66.7 percent at the free-throw line.
Reserve forward Justin Thomas, a former Fayeteville (N.C.) Village Christian product, comes off the bench to shoot 41.7 percent on three-pointers. He played at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Texas-San Antonio. Sophomore backup forward Jerry Deng, a Hampton trnasfer, is shooting 37.8 percent on three-pointers.
Rebounding
The Seminoles are averaging 35.4 rebounds per game and have a zero rebounding margin. FSU has 104 offensive rebounds with Ewin far and away the team leader with 31.
Ewin is averaging 6.7 rebounds per game to lead the team. Bowen is second with 4.8 boards, and Watkins at 4.7.
Defense
FSU is allowing 66.3 points per game, and allowing opponents to shoot 39.6 percent from the field and just 27.2 percent on three-pointers.
Bowen has a team-high 13 blocks, and four players are over 12 steals with Jackson leading the way with 18.
Depth
Florida State has a long tradition of playing numerous players off the bench, and this season is no different. Freshman guard Daquan Davis is averaging 8.3 points and 2.2 assists in 20.3 minutes per game this season.
Thomas, Deng, freshman post player Alier Maluk and freshman wing A.J. Swinton, also come off the bench. Thomas is chipping in 7.4 points per game, and Deng at 6.7 points a game.
Star Watch
Senior combo forward Jamir Watkins played his first two years at Virginia Commonwealth, but he took the ACC by storm last year after joining Florida State.
The 6-7, 210-pounder averaged 15.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game last year. He had 19 points in a 90-83 win over NC State on Feb. 27, 2024.
Watkins torched Virginia Tech with 34 points and 11 rebound sin a 86-76 win in the ACC Tournament on March 13, and he topped 20 points in five games last year. He also had 27 points and 11 boards in a 85-69 win at Syracuse on Jan. 23.
Watkins entered the transfer last spring, but ultimately came back to Florida State. He had 30 points in the second game of the season against Rice on Nov. 9. He also had 19 points against both Florida on Nov. 15 and vs. Temple on Nov. 22. He’s reached double figures in eight of the first nine games.
Watkins attended Trenton (N.J.) Catholic Academy and signed with VCU in the class of 2020, over offers from Seton Hall, St. John’s and Virginia Tech. He was a Rivals.com three-star prospect.
Likely starters
NC State
PG — 12 Michael O’Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 7.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.4 spg)
SG — 8 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Sr., 13.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.9 spg)
G — 10 Marcus Hill (6-4, 185, Sr., 11.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg)
F — 34 Ben Middlebrooks (6-10, 240, Sr., 9.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.6 bpg)
C — 1 Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Sr., 10.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Florida State
PG — 0 Chandler Jackson (6-5, 205, Jr., 8.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.1 apg, 2.0 spg)
SG — 3 Bostyn Holt (6-7, 200, Sr., 4.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.0 apg)
SF — 10 Taylor Bol Bowen (6-10, 195, Soph., 7.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.4 bpg)
PF — 1 Jamir Watkins (6-7, 210, Sr., 17.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.6 spg)
C — 12 Malique Ewin (6-11, 230, Jr., 11.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 apg)
Numbers Of Note
7 Players who have had their jersey retired or honored at Florida State. Dave Cowens (1968-70) is the lone player to have his No. 13 jersey retired. Hugh Durham (1957-59), Dave Fedor (1960-62), Ron King (1971-73), George McCloud (1985-89), Sam Cassell (1992-93) and Rob Sura (1992-95) have had their jersey's honored.
18 NCAA Tournament appearances for FSU, with just four prior to 1988. Florida State went to the Final Four in 1972 and have three Elite Eight appearances.
650 Career wins for Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton on the college level, plus 19 more wins in the NBA. Hamilton is 650-493 after coaching at Oklahoma State on 1986-90, Miami (Fla.) on 1990-00 and at Florida State since 2002.
Game within the game: FSU's Malique Ewin vs. NC State's Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
Florida State junior center Malique Ewin operates in the paint and has a nice touch at 6-11 and 230 pounds.
Ewin went to Mississippi his freshman year and struggled. He had 20 points and 16 rebounds in 14 games played for the Rebels. Ewin committed to Ole Miss after receiving offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Mississippi State, Murray State, Virginia Tech and Xavier. Rivals.com ranked him No. 103 overall in the class of 2022 coming out of Lilburn (Ga.) Berkmar High.
Ewin attended South Plains C.C. in Texas last year and was named first-team junior college All-American after he averaged 14.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, and he shot 62.6 percent from the field.
Florida State had a gaping hole at center after Cameron Corhen left for Pittsburgh and Baba Miller transferred to Florida Atlantic.
Ewin has filled the void with 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this season. He erupted for 17 points and 17 rebounds in the 85-75 loss at LSU in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday. He has scored in double figures in all but two contests.
NC State senior center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had 10 points and five boards in 27 minutes in the Wolfpack’s 63-59 loss to Texas on Wednesday. The Louisville transfer is averaging 10.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game this season.
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