Florida State Finds Its “X” Factor in Xavier Rathan-Mayes
Posted by Brad Jenkins (@bradjenk) on January 27th, 2015For the most part, Florida State’s 2014-15 season has been a disappointment. Returning four starters from a 22-win NIT semifinalist, Leonard Hamilton had high hopes that this year’s Seminoles would return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three season, which at the time was the school’s fourth consecutive trip to the Big Dance. But early injuries and a big dismissal have hurt the team’s progress, and with a 10-10 record, meaningful postseason play does not look likely. However, there may now be a ray of light at the end of the tunnel for this Florida State squad. Despite Saturday’s 78-74 loss to North Carolina, a star appears to be emerging in Tallahassee.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes Exploded for 35 Points in the Smith Center on Saturday.
(AP Photo / Ellen Ozier)
Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, Florida State fell behind by double-figures in each half, but both times rallied to make the game close. The driving force behind each comeback was Seminoles’ guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who put on a performance for the ages, becoming only the fourth opponent to score 35 or more points in the Smith Center’s 29-year history. Rathan-Mayes joins a select group that includes a pair of two-time ACC Player of the Year award winners, Len Bias and J.J. Redick, who each tallied 35 in the Smith Center in their senior seasons. The all-time opponent scoring record belongs to LaSalle’s Lionel Simmons, who scored 38 points in the new building in January 1988. All Simmons did in college was score 3,217 points (third all-time) and win a NPOY Award in 1990. So, you get the point – not bad company to keep. The redshirt freshman’s 35 points is easily the most by an ACC rookie this year, and ties Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas for the league-high this season by any player. This performance by Rathan-Mayes did not totally come out of nowhere, as he came in to this contest ranked among the ACC’s top-15 scorers in conference games.
The player known simply as “X” to his coach, has come a long way in a short time. Forced to sit out last season due to NCAA eligibility issues, Rathan-Mayes could not even practice with the team until May. In just his second college game, Rathan-Mayes was forced into becoming Florida State’s primary ball-handler when Seminoles’ point guard Devon Bookert went down with an injury. Hamilton talked about the situation after Saturday’s game: “All his life he’s been a combo-guard. With Devon being hurt early in the season, we put him at the point guard position. That’s been a little bit challenging for him. Just learning how to run a team, make decisions.” In December, the team’s leading scorer Aaron Thomas was dismissed from the program and Rathan-Mayes’ role changed yet again. Now, the freshman has to balance setting up teammates with looking for his own shot, something he’s progressively doing better with each game. In addition to his scoring, Rathan-Mayes is Florida State’s assist leader, averaging over almost five dimes per game on the season, good for fourth among ACC players.
Going forward, Florida State is in a much better position than its record would indicate. Despite their 2-5 ACC mark, the Seminoles have shown progress lately, namely over the last two-and-a-half games. The competitive performance in Chapel Hill was preceded by a 59-55 road win last Monday night at Clemson, and before that, Florida State showed fight by coming back from 19 points down to N.C. State to tie the game before a late loss. Also, after having played five of their first seven ACC games on the road, the Seminoles now get to host three straight and follow that with a road contest against lowly Virginia Tech. Based on recent play, especially by Rathan-Mayes, there’s a good chance that Florida State can make some noise in the ACC after all, even though it probably won’t be enough to get Hamilton back to the Dance.
