FanShot

FSU BBall continues rise with another good season

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Leonard Hamilton has achieved in rebuilding Florida State. Now he's trying to make the Seminoles a perennial fixture on the collegiate basketball scene. The Seminoles have won 20 or more games in five of the last six years, including the past three seasons. They capped that run by advancing to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament before losing to upstart VCU in overtime last Friday. During that time, Florida State is 131-69. In the last three seasons they're 70-31, including 31-17 in the ACC, trailing only traditional powerhouses Duke and North Carolina. The Seminoles have earned a bye in first round ACC tournament in each of the last three seasons. It's paid off in attendance that has swelled by an average of more than 4,000 fans a game since Steve Robinson's last season in 2001-02. The average of 9,327 this season also surpassed the previous high of the 1992-93 team that reached the Elite Eight.