ANAHEIM -- Win or lose on Thursday evening in the Sweet 16, this Florida State men's basketball team has done a great job of living up to the expectations that many within the program had for themselves entering the year. Going into the 2018-19 season, head coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff thought they had a talented, deep bunch with enough veteran leadership and a wide variety of abilities at their disposal. Hamilton regularly spoke prior to and throughout the season about how they had to work towards playing their best ball and needed fresh faces to find their roles, but that they were capable of being a very good team when it all came together. Many of the players felt they could be a better version of the squad that made an Elite Eight run a season ago, by being more consistent and competing at a top-level on a nightly basis. This group had the midseason hiccup after their last-second loss to Duke at home, which they followed up by going on the road and playing poorly in losses to both Pitt and Boston College. After that 1-4 start in league play, they handled things effectively internally and corrected their course, setting the path for winning 16 of 18 since that point in time - which included an appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and now an appearance in the Sweet 16. They want to keep playing beyond tonight in Anaheim, Calif., but basketball is a funny game and it rarely plays out as you would expect at tip-off. So anything could happen. FSU could be preparing for their second consecutive appearance in the Elite Eight by the end of Thursday, or the season could come to a sudden halt thanks to No. 1 seed Gonzaga. With that in mind, take a minute to appreciate this squad, the people that make it up and what they accomplished to this point in time. Terance Mann is a special senior and a special person. A leader, stat-stuffer and someone who handles every moment appropriately. He is the captain and he embodies what you want in such a person. His on-court game is underappreciated because it is so consistent. But he is the reason FSU has such a good locker room culture and he is a great teammate, as exhibited most recently in his support of Phil Cofer. Speaking of Cofer, who won't be with the team this evening, he has endured an incredibly difficult season, physically and personally. His body failed him once again, coming off a career-best season the redshirt senior has been sidelined almost as much as he has been available. His father's passing, and the illness he dealt with for a lengthy period prior to his passing, was an unimaginable weight upon the shoulders of a guy who rarely exhibited the sadness associated with such tragedy, but instead had an outward appearance of a guy that loves taking the court with his teammates. While he may not be on the bench tonight, his presence is certainly felt by his teammates, who are playing for him and his family. Mfiondu Kabengele is a special basketball player. His national profile rises with each game he plays in the postseason before wide-reaching audiences. The redshirt sophomore gets it done at each level, on both ends of the court. He competes every second he is on the floor. In watching FSU for three decades, it is tough to think of a player more emotionally invested in every moment happening on the court. Trent Forrest has played on a bad wheel for as long as I can recall this season. He has a toe that produces excruciating pain when he bends it, it gets stepped on, kicked, etc. The junior plays through it. Giving his best for his team, even when he isn't able to play close to the level of what he is capable of. Surgery or sitting out isn't something he ever considered. Nor would he. He leads the Seminoles in assists and steals, exhibiting his guiding force on offense and his ability to be shutdown on defense. Those are just a few of the guys who have made this group, which loves the moniker of '18 strong' so special as they wrote this year in FSU Basketball history. Along the way to winning 29 games, a school-record, the Seminoles have seen their entire cast play a starring role at different times and in different ways. The list goes on and on: Senior center Christ Koumadje will leave FSU playing the best basketball of his career. He got healthy and he got after it. His play aids in making life easier on someone like Kabengele, while making things very difficult for the opposition in the paint on both ends of the court. Senior guard David Nichols has been a one-year asset who has provided calm in concerning moments and accepted his role. He helps to relieve the pressure when Forrest has to sit or when FSU needs another ball-handler on the court. Senior guard PJ Savoy saw his minutes decrease throughout the season, but he was still there when called upon and provided great moments such as his play against Florida in the season-opener. Sophomore guard M.J. Walker has elevated his play on the defensive end and shown flashes of his ability on the offensive end. Redshirt freshman forward RaiQuan Gray has stepped up and into the role created by Cofer's absence on the court. He is ahead of schedule and taking it all in as he learned on the job. The 'unicorn' has shown a few of the reasons why many believe his ceiling is incredibly high. Freshman guard Devin Vassell has provided plenty of big shots and played as though no moment is too big for him. He has shown the ability that has people around FSU very optimistic about his future on the court. Others such as sophomore forward Wyatt Wilkes and redshirt freshman guard Anthony Polite have responded when called upon. Wilkes, Polite and FSU's walk-on group are also essential pieces in helping this team to prepare for each outing, and for providing plenty of support from the bench throughout the 40 minutes of each outing. Head coach Leonard Hamilton has a clear image for his team and his program. He wants to mold quality young men in and out of the locker room that buy into a team concept and play for one another. Family is preached and from Hamilton, down throughout the roster, and beyond to the support staff, it is taken to heart. He wants egos checked at the door and sweat equity invested on the court. It isn't about a superstar or showcasing one, but instead winning as the sum of all their parts. His 2018-19 squad is that vision in action. Take a minute and appreciate it.<doc-sep>HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 21: Mfiondu Kabengele #25 of the Florida State Seminoles drives the ball against the Vermont Catamounts during the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 21, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) FSU basketball heard all about how good Ja Morant was for Murray State. Morant got his but the Noles blew out the Racers to reach the Sweet 16. FSU basketball (29-7) continues to reset its own record books with its 29th win of the season. The Noles have reached the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row with its 90-62 second round domination of the Murray State Racers. Murray State got off to a hot start behind Ja Morant’s three-point shooting but matched it with some hot shooting of their own. Players like P.J. Savoy and Raiquan Gray gave the Noles a lift off the bench early with six three pointers between the two. However, it was the pace and depth of FSU basketball that began to take over with FSU basketball stretching its lead to 50-34 at halftime. Morant and the Racers looked noticeably gassed near the end of the first half. The Noles were led by Terrance Mann, Mfiondu Kabengele and Raiquan Gray in scoring. The FSU defense was fantastic outside of Morant’s hot start. The Noles forced 10 turnovers and dominated the Racers on the boards. FSU’s defense held Murray State to under 40 percent shooting where they averaged 49 percent shooting as a team prior to the game. The size and length of the Noles was simply too much for the Racers to overcome as the Racers never mounted a significant run in the second half. FSU offense was even better as they shot over 50 percent for the game. They were near 50 percent from three-point land. Morant finished with a state line of 28 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists on 8 of 21 shooting and will likely be a top three pick in the NBA Draft. The Noles could face No. 1 Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 which is a rematch from last year’s tournament that saw the Noles beat them to reach the Elite 8.<doc-sep>
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 23: Terance Mann #14 of the Florida State Seminoles dunks the ball against the Murray State Racers in the first half during the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 23, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) FSU basketball will now have to be considered one of the top programs in the country after again making it back to the second weekend of the tournament. When the history books talk about the moments that have made the FSU basketball program, the first 40 seasons will be defined by one magical year when the Seminoles came within five points of beating the sports’ greatest dynasty for a national title – and a total of just three appearances in the NCAA tournament over that span. Over the last 32 seasons that include this one, the Noles have gone to the madness of March nearly half of that time (14 appearances) that include five appearances under former head coach Pat Kennedy with the highlight being an Elite Eight appearance in 1993. After that season, the program realized that while the Seminoles were dominating the ACC in football the FSU basketball team was going to be starting from the bottom for a while against the conference’s elite. Heck, the Noles have as many appearances all time in the big dance as the team they beat Saturday (Murray State) and less than teams like Utah State and New Mexico State. What many didn’t realize was that the bottom was going to be home for nearly five seasons under former coach Steve Robinson and several seasons during the start of the Leonard Hamilton era. Now, in year number 17 under the ageless wonder, the Seminoles have become a program who over the last 11 seasons has finished below 6th in the best basketball conference a total of four times while playing for the ACC title three times (winning one) while making it to the big dance seven times over that span and heading to the second weekend three of those times. Simply put, after years in purgatory with the sport, FSU basketball has to be considered one of the country’s top consistent programs when it comes to playing the game. Now, please don’t read into that to say that I am comparing the Seminoles to teams like Duke, North Carolina and others who are yearly considered to be national title contenders – as loyal as I am to the school, we are also realists in the fact that the Noles have an uphill battle each season in the ACC just to even sniff the conversation of being a title contender year in and out. With that being said, this is a program who has won at least 20 games a season nine times over that 11 season span since 2008-09 that includes averaging over 24 wins a season the last year years while each season is being considered a team who can get to the NCAA tournament – and in the case of this season, be considered to make a deep run. Before the ACC tournament, I wrote that this may be the last chance for a while the Noles have to win the national title – and while that may be true, don’t expect this team to be heading back to the NIT soon unless there is a major letdown, injuries or Hamilton shockingly leaves. FSU basketball may never make the garnet and gold a true #BasketballSchool like some others in the ACC and around the country are (and what some have jokingly said we are now) – but Hamilton and his staff have made it a marker of consistency that may have allowed it to turn the corner permanently.