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Saturday, January 25
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Seminoles Lead The ACC In Blocked Shots As They Face Stanford Saturday At 7:00 P.M.
1/24/2025 11:03:00 AM | Men's Basketball
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Under head coach Leonard Hamilton, Florida State has annually been one of the top shot blocking teams in the ACC.
This season is no different.
The Seminoles enter Saturday's game against ACC newcomer Stanford as the conference leader in blocked shots with 105 and a 5.5 blocked shots per game average. The Seminoles are the first team in the ACC this season to block more than 100 shots and are the only team in the now 18-school basketball conference which is averaging more than 5.0 blocked shots per game.
Florida State has ranked in the ACC's top five for blocked shots seven times in the last 10 years and most recently led the ACC in 2021 with 127 blocked shots and a 5.1 blocked shots per game average.
Florida State (13-6, 4-4 ACC) plays at Stanford (13-6, 5-3 ACC) at Maples Pavilion on Saturday at 7:00 P.M. eastern time. The game will be televised on the ACC Network and is the second of two games on the West Coast against the ACC's newest teams, Stanford and Cal.
In 2012 when the Seminoles won the first ACC Championship in school history, Hamilton's Seminoles led the ACC in blocked shots with 213 rejections and a 6.1 blocked shots per game average. In 2020 when the 23rd-year head coach led Florida State to the second ACC Championship in school history, the Seminoles ranked second in the league in blocked shots with 162 and a 5.2 per game average.
What is it that allows the Seminoles to rank among the league leaders in blocked shots year in and year out?
If you ask Hamilton, it's the players he recruits and the mentality they have to protect the rim on defense in the Seminoles' renowned defensive philosophy.
"To be successful in the conferences we have coached in, you have to be a strong defensive team," said Hamilton who has been named as the ACC Coach of the Year three times (2009, 2012, 2020) and as the Big East Coach of the Year twice (1995 and 1999). "To compete successfully against the coaches we've had to coach against – P.J. Carlesimo, Jim Calhoun, Rollie Massimino, John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca, and Jim Boeheim in the Big East and Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Gary Williams in the ACC – you've got to do something different to win games.
"That's what we have done and that's the kind of defensive minded players we have recruited."
It also helps that the players Hamilton and his staffs annually recruit are among the tallest, lengthiest, and most athletic in the nation.
The Seminoles are ranked as the second-tallest team in the nation this season, with a roster of 16 players averaging 6'6", behind only Duke and tied with Elon.
Florida State's current roster has 12 of its 16 players listed at 6-5 or taller, 10 at 6-7 or taller, five taller than 6-10, and one seven-footer.
At Florida State, Hamilton has recruited and coached the only two players in school history to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors (Toney Douglas in 2009 and Chris Singleton in 2010 and 2011), as well as 13 selections to the ACC All-Defensive Team.
"Because I have always liked aggressive man-to-man defense, size and length fit into our defensive philosophy," said Hamilton. "Having multiple rim protectors which we can rotate onto the floor is certainly how we like to play."
Players adept at shot blocking have allowed Florida State to lead the nation in Hamilton's favorite statistic – field goal percentage defense in both 2010 and 2011 – two years the Seminoles led the ACC in blocked shots. Florida State totaled 200 blocked shots and a 6.3 blocks per game average in 2010 and topped the conference with 205 blocked shots and a 6.0 average in 2010.
Not coincidentally, the Seminoles finished in third place in the ACC in both 2010 and 2011, won 22 and 23 games respectively, and played in the NCAA Tournament in both seasons. Florida State advanced to the Sweet 16 with victories over Texas A&M and No. 5 seeded Notre Dame in 2011. It marked the first time under Hamilton and the first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1993 for the program.
This season, 12 of Florida State's 16 players have recorded blocked shots with four having earned double-figures in blocked shots through the first 19 games of the season. The Seminoles blocked a season-high nine shots against Cal on Wednesday night, and have blocked at least five shots in 13 games this season.
Sophomore Taylor Bol Bowen, who blocked a career-high tying four shots in two of the Seminoles' last three games against Pittsburgh and Cal, is ranked second in the ACC with a single-season career-high 29 blocks.
"I've always been a good shot blocker," said Bol Bowen as he and his teammates began their preparations for Stanford. "I think it's a part of my game that has translated well from high school."
Bol Bowen has blocked nearly twice as many shots in 13 fewer games and is averaging more than one full blocked shot per game this season as compared to his freshman season. He has 13 more blocked shots more this season in 18 games as compared to 31 games during his freshman season.
"I think being more aggressive on both sides of the ball has helped me become a better shot blocker and in most of my statistical categories this season."
As Bol Bowen looks to join Seminole great Solomon Alabi as the only Florida State player to lead the ACC in blocked shots (2009 and 2010), the Seminoles will continue to block shots and rank among the ACC blocked shots leaders.
This season is no different.
The Seminoles enter Saturday's game against ACC newcomer Stanford as the conference leader in blocked shots with 105 and a 5.5 blocked shots per game average. The Seminoles are the first team in the ACC this season to block more than 100 shots and are the only team in the now 18-school basketball conference which is averaging more than 5.0 blocked shots per game.
Florida State has ranked in the ACC's top five for blocked shots seven times in the last 10 years and most recently led the ACC in 2021 with 127 blocked shots and a 5.1 blocked shots per game average.
Florida State (13-6, 4-4 ACC) plays at Stanford (13-6, 5-3 ACC) at Maples Pavilion on Saturday at 7:00 P.M. eastern time. The game will be televised on the ACC Network and is the second of two games on the West Coast against the ACC's newest teams, Stanford and Cal.
In 2012 when the Seminoles won the first ACC Championship in school history, Hamilton's Seminoles led the ACC in blocked shots with 213 rejections and a 6.1 blocked shots per game average. In 2020 when the 23rd-year head coach led Florida State to the second ACC Championship in school history, the Seminoles ranked second in the league in blocked shots with 162 and a 5.2 per game average.
What is it that allows the Seminoles to rank among the league leaders in blocked shots year in and year out?
If you ask Hamilton, it's the players he recruits and the mentality they have to protect the rim on defense in the Seminoles' renowned defensive philosophy.
"To be successful in the conferences we have coached in, you have to be a strong defensive team," said Hamilton who has been named as the ACC Coach of the Year three times (2009, 2012, 2020) and as the Big East Coach of the Year twice (1995 and 1999). "To compete successfully against the coaches we've had to coach against – P.J. Carlesimo, Jim Calhoun, Rollie Massimino, John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca, and Jim Boeheim in the Big East and Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Gary Williams in the ACC – you've got to do something different to win games.
"That's what we have done and that's the kind of defensive minded players we have recruited."
It also helps that the players Hamilton and his staffs annually recruit are among the tallest, lengthiest, and most athletic in the nation.
The Seminoles are ranked as the second-tallest team in the nation this season, with a roster of 16 players averaging 6'6", behind only Duke and tied with Elon.
Florida State's current roster has 12 of its 16 players listed at 6-5 or taller, 10 at 6-7 or taller, five taller than 6-10, and one seven-footer.
At Florida State, Hamilton has recruited and coached the only two players in school history to earn ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors (Toney Douglas in 2009 and Chris Singleton in 2010 and 2011), as well as 13 selections to the ACC All-Defensive Team.
"Because I have always liked aggressive man-to-man defense, size and length fit into our defensive philosophy," said Hamilton. "Having multiple rim protectors which we can rotate onto the floor is certainly how we like to play."
Players adept at shot blocking have allowed Florida State to lead the nation in Hamilton's favorite statistic – field goal percentage defense in both 2010 and 2011 – two years the Seminoles led the ACC in blocked shots. Florida State totaled 200 blocked shots and a 6.3 blocks per game average in 2010 and topped the conference with 205 blocked shots and a 6.0 average in 2010.
Not coincidentally, the Seminoles finished in third place in the ACC in both 2010 and 2011, won 22 and 23 games respectively, and played in the NCAA Tournament in both seasons. Florida State advanced to the Sweet 16 with victories over Texas A&M and No. 5 seeded Notre Dame in 2011. It marked the first time under Hamilton and the first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1993 for the program.
This season, 12 of Florida State's 16 players have recorded blocked shots with four having earned double-figures in blocked shots through the first 19 games of the season. The Seminoles blocked a season-high nine shots against Cal on Wednesday night, and have blocked at least five shots in 13 games this season.
Sophomore Taylor Bol Bowen, who blocked a career-high tying four shots in two of the Seminoles' last three games against Pittsburgh and Cal, is ranked second in the ACC with a single-season career-high 29 blocks.
"I've always been a good shot blocker," said Bol Bowen as he and his teammates began their preparations for Stanford. "I think it's a part of my game that has translated well from high school."
Bol Bowen has blocked nearly twice as many shots in 13 fewer games and is averaging more than one full blocked shot per game this season as compared to his freshman season. He has 13 more blocked shots more this season in 18 games as compared to 31 games during his freshman season.
"I think being more aggressive on both sides of the ball has helped me become a better shot blocker and in most of my statistical categories this season."
As Bol Bowen looks to join Seminole great Solomon Alabi as the only Florida State player to lead the ACC in blocked shots (2009 and 2010), the Seminoles will continue to block shots and rank among the ACC blocked shots leaders.
Players Mentioned
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