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Michael Snaer got the Florida State Seminoles back on track snapping a three game losing with a win over the Maine Black Bears.
The 5-4 Seminoles haven’t done themselves any favors recently, being embarrassed at home in their previous two games, after a close loss against the Minnesota Golden Golphers began the losing streak. Florida State lost by five to the 5-5 Mercer Bears before the Florida Gators blew them out 72-47 while hot prospect Andrew Wiggins looked on from the stands.
The young Seminoles didn’t exactly put on a performance that would persuade Wiggins into wanting to make any of the Florida State players his future teammates. With his decision on where he’ll play next year coming down to Florida State or the Kentucky Wildcats, both teams aren’t able to use early season success as a recruiting edge given their recent struggles.
The one player that could excite Wiggins to play with the most on either team will be long gone with the 6-foot-5 Michael Snaer in his senior season. The rest of the ACC can rest peacefully not having to worry about the nightmare combination Wiggins and Snaer would have provided the Seminoles.
After recording a season low seven points against Mercer followed by the worst loss of the season to state rival Florida, Snaer stepped up for the shorthanded Seminoles against the Black Bears. With the team missing their leading rebounder, Terrance Shannon, and assists leader, Ian Miller, Snaer delivered 19 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 91-59 victory.
Looking determined to get Florida State back into the win column, Snear led the way for his freshmen filled roster on both ends of the floor. With five freshmen playing double-figure minutes including two with over 20 minutes, Snaer led by example with his hard noised defense and his ability to put the ball in the basket.
Snaer is unquestioned the leader of this young Seminoles roster but he’ll have to shoot better than the 30% from the field he’s shot in the past four games if Florida State has any hope of getting back into the ACC title picture. Even with his 19 points against Maine he still shot only 6 for 18 from the field, the most attempts he’s had from the field this season and seven more than his previous high of 11. Obvious signs the guard felt the need to carry the scoring load with key teammates out and the team sliding down the conference rankings.
To prevent Snaer from thinking he has to do it all himself, the team will need more from second leading scorer Okaro White. White bounced back nicely after shooting only 25% from the field against Florida with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. For the Seminoles to be successful in conference play, they will need White to score numbers in the mid-teens on a consistent basis.
Snaer and White are the team’s only players averaging double-figures as they’ll need some of their freshmen to step up if Florida State wants to make an impact in the ACC. Having five freshmen finish the game with double-digit minutes of experience gets the Seminoles one step closer to ensuring that happens.
Michael covers the ACC and Big East for Rant Sports, you can follow him on Twitter @MichaelxRoberts
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