While Florida State head coach football Jimbo Fisher continues to lead one of the better recruiting efforts in the country, head basketball coach Leonard Hamilton has the Seminoles looking to a bright future on the hardwood. In fact, Florida State could be just a year away from fielding its best men’s basketball team in decades.
On Friday, Hamilton had perhaps his best recruiting day ever as the head man at Florida State as both Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley gave solid verbal commitments to play for the Seminoles.
A 6’4″ guard out of Alpharetta, Georgia, Beasley ranks as the 43rd best player in the nation, according to Rivals.com. Beasley is a 4-star prospect and should be ready to make major contributions as soon as he steps foot on campus.
Bacon on the other hand, could wind up being a McDonald’s All-American. A 6’6″ swingman now playing at storied Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, Bacon became the first 5-star recruit to sign with Florida State since former guard and perhaps the most clutch Seminole ever in Michael Snaer back in 2009. According to Rivals, Bacon is among the top 25 high school players in America.
The two big time commitments on Friday came less than one month after Florida State received its first big commitment from Rhode Island slasher Terance Mann. Bacon, Beasley, and Mann give Florida State three of the nation’s top 100 high school prospects, according to Rivals.
While the three should be able to play right away when they step foot in Tallahassee, they likely won’t be asked to carry the team early. The 2014-15 team for Florida State has just one scholarship senior in Kiel Turpin and is loaded with juniors.
When the trio of premier prospects do arrive in Tallahassee, they could be a part of a team that has potentially five experienced seniors in guards Aaron Thomas and Devon Bookert, forward Montay Brandon and centers Boris Bojanovsky and Michael Ojo. Much can change between now and the start of the 2015-16 season, but the Seminoles look to have a very strong mix of senior leadership and freshman talent.
Though it’s far too early to pencil the Seminoles into the 2016 Final Four in Houston, which would be the school’s first appearance since 1972, Hamilton’s most experienced teams have been his better teams. Florida State’s 2011-12 team that won the ACC Championship featured six seniors.
The 2011-12 team also had depth as it played as many as 11 players on a regular basis. With Jarquez Smith and Xavier Rathan-Mayes also potentially in the lineup, the Seminoles could easily have a 10-man rotation next season.
Neither Bacon, Beasley nor Mann have yet to sign a letter of intent, but the three appear to be solid verbal commitments to Florida State. While the Seminoles are the top-ranked team in America, the defending national champions and the two-time reigning ACC champions on the gridiron, it shouldn’t be long before the ‘Noles are again a force to be reckoned with on the hardwood.
