After their 2017 NCAA Tournament run came to an end with a thud in the second round, there was a thought among many – including this writer – that FSU basketball had wasted their best chance at a deep March Madness trip based on the amount of talent that was thought to be leaving (and did end up leaving with Dwayne Bacon, Jonathan Isaac and Xavier Rathan-Mayes all declaring for the NBA Draft).
The general consensus was that Leonard Hamilton’s team, one that finished second in the ACC regular season for the first time in nearly a quarter century, was going to take a step back and maybe head back to the NIT this coming season.