Florida State Seminoles
Overall Rank: #30
Conference Rank: #6 ACC
Florida State Team Page
Florida State is coming off of its ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in ten years and returns three starters and six others who saw playing time. The team made it to the second round of the tournament last year, losing to Stanford. The Seminoles started last season winning 14 of its first 15, including a 10-game winning streak, but slipped when the schedule got tougher in ACC play.
2013-14 Record: 21-12, 7-9
2013-14 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Sue Semrau
Coach Record: 309-203 at Florida State, 360-250 overall
Strengths:
As mentioned above, the Seminoles welcome back three starters, including their second, third and fourth-leading scorers. Morgan Jones was second on the team with 11.9 points per game and was the team's three-point marksman, knocking down 58 treys, which was sixth all-time for a single season in FSU history. She had 20 double-digit scoring games. Brittany Brown had quite the freshman debut for the 'Noles, being a terror on ballhandlers. She had 78 steals on the season, which is an FSU freshman record. Brown averaged nine points last season. The last returning senior is Ivey Slaughter, a cog in the middle. She averaged 8.2 points per game and was second on the team with 7.7 rebounds.
Weaknesses:
The two starters Florida State lost may have been the most important on the team last season. Anytime you lose the fifth overall draft pick in the WNBA Draft, as the Seminoles did with Natasha Howard, it's never easy to replace such production. The 6-3 Howard shot a remarkable 59.4% from the field while averaging 20.5 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game, both team-highs. The other big loss is point guard Yashira Delgado, who played a ridiculous 38 minutes per game. She had a team-leading 216 assists last year.
Final Projection:
The Seminoles' early schedule should allow the team to get some easy wins, with its first four games against UAB, Bethune-Cookman, Eastern Illinois and UMass. Other key non-conference matchups include Washington and a three-game stretch that includes Purdue, Florida and Temple. Along with the talented players returning, the Seminoles bring in a heralded recruiting class of three, led by McDonald's All-American Shakayla Thomas. The 5-11 forward was the leading scorer in the McDonald's game, a 4,000+ point scorer and top 15 recruit in the country. Along with her, Chania Ray, a Top-100 recruit and Ama Degbeon, who is the youngest player to ever play for the German Senior National Team, also come aboard in 2014-2015.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA Tournament
Projected Starting Five:
Morgan Jones, Junior, Guard, 11.9 points per game
Brittany Brown, Sophomore, Guard, 9.0 points per game
Ivey Slaughter, Sohpomore, Forward, 8.2 points per game
Lauren Coleman, Senior, Forward, 4.0 points per game
Shakayla Thomas, Freshman, Guard, DNP last season
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 69.3 (133rd in nation, 10th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 63.8 (86, 6)
Field-Goal Percentage: 42.5 (75, 8)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.5 (131, 8)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 4.0 (277, 14)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 28.4 (253, 13)
Free-Throw Percentage: 65.2 (286, 12)
Rebound Margin: 6.5 (34, 4)
Assists Per Game: 14.1 (117, 8)
Turnovers Per Game: 19.3 (325, 15)
Madness 2014 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#11 Shakayla Thomas
See All Top 44 Women’s Basketball Previews
