Weiler | Florida State's late-season fight is a positive sign for future of the program

Players come and go; culture lasts.

This recent stretch from the Florida State men's basketball team, including Wednesday's 74-70 win over Notre Dame, is proof positive of that.

This year's team has been as unlucky with injuries as any team I have covered. What began as an injury that veteran forward Malik Osborne was able to play through evolved into the Seminoles being without five starters for a game at No. 5 Duke a few weeks ago.

Fifth-year guard Anthony Polite was somewhat unexpectedly able to return to the lineup Wednesday night. Before that, the Seminoles had been without both of their senior leaders for the last seven games and without three of their top four scorers for the last four games.

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As the injuries mounted, so did the losses. A team that was trending toward the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble fell off the face of the postseason cliff.

That still remains the case for the Seminoles. Barring a highly unlikely run to an ACC Championship, FSU's season will end next week in Brooklyn, N.Y., with the exception of a possible NIT bid.

But after the last two games, it's hard to deny feeling significantly better about the state of the program going forward.

There were plenty of times where it didn't seem like there was any fight left in this team. A game at UNC in which FSU trailed by 40 early in the second half, a staggering home loss to Pitt and an uninspired 16-point loss at Boston College stood out as low points.

There were moments where the Seminoles looked totally out of place and others where they appeared utterly despondent. And given the state of the active roster for those games, who could blame them?

"It was a little bit all over the board," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"We had guys stepping into different roles. We had guys some being motivated by it, some being depressed about it. Emotions were all over the place so we were struggling a little bit to try to find a way to bring everybody together."

FSU lost six straight games between Jan. 26 and Feb. 12, the program's longest losing streak in 17 years. Entering last weekend, the Seminoles had lost eight of their last nine games, falling from first to ninth in the ACC standings.

But then Saturday's shocking win over Virginia happened on the arms of a stunning 30-foot buzzer-beater from freshman Matthew Cleveland.

It was a special moment in a brutal stretch and a nice silver lining for the Seminoles to play spoiler, effectively killing UVA's NCAA Tournament hopes.

But there was little belief that this progress would be carried over into Wednesday's game against Notre Dame. This was especially true once it was revealed during pregame that Cleveland would not be available due to a non-COVID illness in a plot point that really should have been predicted with how the season has played out.

But shame on us for doubting this program. The Seminoles delivered one of their more shocking wins in recent memory, downing a visiting Irish team that was just outside this week's top 25.

Considering FSU lost its chance to repeat as ACC Champions in a stunning loss at Notre Dame last season, this one surely felt extra sweet for the Seminoles.

FSU should be favored against NC State this weekend as it looks to win on Senior Day for the eighth straight year. If that happens, it will enter next week's ACC Tournament on a three-game winning streak that no one saw coming.

It's a testament to what Hamilton and his staff have built in Tallahassee. Even in a down year where the fanbase and media members left the team for dead, the Seminoles are fighting to the bitter end.

That fight has been admirable. It also leads one to believe that next year's team will be a step toward the last few years instead of another step in the wrong direction.

"Our culture is just getting back to its normal way of operating," Hamilton said.

Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU basketball putting up a fight no one saw coming