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Alabi puts FSU in spotlight

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By COREY CLARK

The Tallahassee Democrat

Published: November 12, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - It starts with the biggest guy on the floor. It has to.

The reason the Florida State Seminoles are getting more preseason attention than they ever have in the Leonard Hamilton era is because of a talented, soft-spoken, gigantic presence named Solomon Alabi.

The sophomore is considered by many to be a first-round lock whenever he decides to leave Tallahassee. He is a legitimate 7-foot-1 center with an instinctive ability to block shots. He also has a soft shooting touch from the perimeter and is a terrific athlete for his size.

All of those attributes are a big reason the big man has gotten so much national attention - in preseason magazines and on college basketball Web sites - heading into the 2009-10 season.

Not that he has seen a single word of it.

"I don't read what's written about me," said Alabi, who was named to the preseason Naismith Award watch list. "I want to have a great year, and I just don't want to get stuff in my head and make me think too much and be overwhelmed. So I just don't want to read it."

Fair enough. But other people are reading. And they have certainly noticed the talent that is on Hamilton's roster.

Even with the loss of do-everything guard Toney Douglas, the Seminoles are ranked No. 29 in the preseason Associated Press poll. They are ranked 14th in the CBSports.com RPI poll, 18th in Dick Vitale's preseason poll and 23rd in the Parrish Poll.

This is the kind of attention that comes after a 25-win season, a spot in the ACC Tournament final, a berth in the NCAA Tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 22.

But in the end, it doesn't matter where the Seminoles start the season ranked. What matters is the next five months.

"I think maybe it's good for the program," Hamilton said. "It's probably good for recognition and recruiting and a certain level of respect. But in reality, in the grand scheme of things, for the upcoming season it has very little bearing on the outcome of the upcoming season. You have to go out and play."

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