FSU Celebrates ACC Championship

The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament was unexpectedly halted yesterday before entering the quarterfinals.  Rounds one and two on Tuesday and Wednesday went according to schedule, but just eight minutes and 49 seconds before the start of the Florida State and Clemson matchup, the league canceled the tournament.

UPDATE: pic.twitter.com/UTlO4MTVxI

— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 12, 2020

The ACC season cancellation was due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida State’s Success

This has arguably been one of the most successful basketball seasons the Noles have seen in school history. Florida State ended its season with an astonishing 26-5 overall and 16-4 conference record. On Saturday, they swept Boston College 80 to 62, earning the team the No. 1 seed and the ACC regular-season title. This is the first time in program history Florida State was named the league’s regular-season champion. After No. 8 Clemson defeated No. 9 Miami, the noles were set to take on the tigers in the quarterfinals prior to the announcement of the cancellation.

Florida State Basketball Head Coach Leonard Hamilton explains that he understands the reasoning for the league’s decision.

Notable Player

Senior Guard Trent Forrest was honored along with other teammates before the game in the Senior Day ceremony, marking their final home game. He has had an incredible run during his Florida State career. Forrest was among the top fifty recruits during 2016. He entered a program unranked in the Top 25 and served an instrumental role in leading the team to where they are today. Forrest appeared in a total of 136 games, making history by being the third player to reach this number.

With the excitement of their first league title, ladders were set up on both ends of the court. Players, trainers, and staff all climbed up the ladder to cut a piece of memorabilia off the net. The first to start this off was Forrest.

“Just to know that I’m kind of a leader on the team and be able to get up there and cut down the nets and do what hasn’t been done in school history – with it being my last year and just being able to accomplish this – going up there, you get chills. Because you see how far we’ve come over these last few years.”

The last on the ladder was head coach Hamilton, who has been with the program for over 17 years.

What a moment. Leonard Hamilton climbs up the ladder on his home floor to cut down the remaining net. pic.twitter.com/dMH9LGdXO7

— Tim Linafelt / FSU (@Tim_Linafelt) March 7, 2020

FSU was named champion winners with the abrupt ending of the tournament.

Updated! With the cancellation of the ACC men's basketball tournament #FSU has been named conference champions for the 2019-20 season. https://t.co/TxHKor6cu5 pic.twitter.com/ckqhXayxAs

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) March 12, 2020