James Flying High at Florida State
The story of Bernard James is not your typical story of collegiate stars at major programs. The 6-10 forward was cut from the freshman team at Windsor Forest High School in Georgia. He did not play organized basketball at all until he joined the Air Force back in 2003. James earned his GED in 2002 and joined the Air Force in 2003 at the age of 17. There he served as a Staff Sergeant in Iraq and Qatar from 2003 to 2008.
It was during that time he started playing basketball. Why not throw the 6-10 guy on the court? By 2008 he was a member of the United States Armed Forces All-Star team that played in the International Military Sports Council Basketball Championship. He was the tournament MVP as the United States beat Lithuania in the finals. I’m guessing the USA has dominated that competition for quite some time. Despite that success, it was still a long way to go before starting on a Sweet Sixteen team.
In 2005, Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton saw James play at the U.S. Armed Forces All-Star Tournament in Las Vegas. It would be another half decade before James played for Coach Hamilton at FSU. After his tour of duty ended, James enrolled at Tallahassee Community College and earned his Associates Degree. He, of course, played some basketball there as well and rewrote the TCC record books. Last season James made his Division I collegiate debut, but had to fight off a lot of depth in the frontcourt to make an impact. James instantly made a splash at Florida State, but it was at the end of the season when he was earning starts and producing big numbers that made him a star on the court, not just off of it.
James ended the 2010-2011 campaign averaging 8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. He scored a team high 14 points and grabbed ten rebounds in Florida State’s third round upset over second seeded Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament and came close to another double-double in the loss to VCU. Because of James’ lack of experience playing organized ball, he has a ton of room to grow. His touch around the basket is improving and it was evident as the 2010-2011 season progressed. There is little doubt that his hard working attitude and leadership skills will turn him into an even better player during the 2011-2012 campaign. That is bad news for everybody else in the ACC.
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