FSU Basketball: Should ‘Noles stop recruiting one and done players?
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU basketball has landed some highly rated basketball players over the last five years. Should the ‘Noles stop recruiting one and done players?
Leonard Hamilton got FSU basketball back to the big dance in 2017 following one of the best regular seasons in FSU history.
The ‘Noles finished second in a loaded ACC conference and was near tops in the nation with wins over top 25 teams.
However, an embarrassing second round loss to Xavier in the NCAA Tournament put a damper on FSU’s return to the big dance in five years.
A lot of this years success was due to Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Isaac, both who will be selected in the NBA Draft in June.
Florida State Seminoles Basketball
Isaac was a true freshmen, the second one and done player for Leonard Hamilton in the last two years following Malik Beasley last season.
Bacon could have been a one and done player too, but chose to come back to FSU basketball refine his game a bit and did so.
FSU was in the top five for Kevin Knox, a consensus top player in the class of 2017 who ultimately chose Kentucky last week.
Knox is another player who’s highly likely to play in college one season and then jump to the NBA.
John Calipari is the king of one and done players, he makes the NCAA Tournament every year as a high seed and usually goes deep into the tournament. Yet, he only has one NCAA title to show for it.
We’ve seen Duke have some success with these types of players, and just watched UNC make back-to-back title games and win the National Title with a team full of savvy veterans this season.
Tony Bradley could be a one and done, but he’ll likely come back to UNC for his sophomore season next year.
Should FSU basketball continue to recruit one and done players?
Malik Beasley was a first round selection in the 2016 NBA Draft. He along with Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes were not enough to get FSU basketball into the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
Jonathan Isaac will likely be a lottery pick and his talents coupled with Dwayne Bacon and XRM were enough to make the second round of the NCAA tournament this year.
Ironically, the FSU basketball team that won the ACC Tournament under Leonard Hamilton in 2012 had one player drafted that season. Benard James was selected in the second round with the No. 33 pick overall.
What’s the ceiling for FSU basketball with one and done players? Is it the sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament? How often will they be able to land them?
Should Leonard Hamilton and staff spend more resources on quality players that will be around for three or four years?
UNC hasn’t been able to land the big time players they used to get in the past due to the cloud of NCAA investigation. Yet, they have won 24 or more games going all the way back to the 2011-12 season.
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That may be the way to go since it’s difficult for FSU basketball to consistently compete with the blue bloods for these extremely talented players.
What’s your opinion?