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Updated: Bowden responds to T.K. Wetherell's "didn't force him out" statement

On Thursday  T.K. Wetherell told the Lakeland Ledger that in a Nov. 30 conversation with Bowden -- just the two of them -- the final decision was Bowden's. That's a bit different than how the old coach says it went down when he asked for another year ("They wouldn't let me have it").

Now Bowden responds with a comment that sounds half like the folksy coach we know and half bitter.

Since both the ex-Prez and ex-Coach are gentlemen who say they don't want a war of words, chances are this is the last we'll hear on the subject -- at least from the two main players in the drama. Others can speculate, but if it's true that only Wetherell and Bowden were in the Nov. 30 meeting, the true story of what happened will live and die with them.

FSU runs out of gas on trip to Clemson

There would be no miracle comeback this time for Florida State. Clemson jumped out to a 9-0 lead and despite pulling to within 9-8, the Seminoles could never get over the hump and take the lead at anytime in the game.

A flurry of points near the end of the first half culminating in a David Potter three-pointer from the left corner gave the Tigers a thirteen point lead (37-24) in cruising to a 77-67 victory over FSU at Littlejohn.

Desperate for a win after losing four of their last five games, the Tigers played like it right from the very beginning of the game.

After the game Leonard Hamilton put it succinctly. “We started the game 1 of 11 and it was downhill from there.”

“In the first five minutes we had five wide open jump shots and four point blank layups that we just didn’t make. When you miss opportunities like that you don’t get those back.”

It was a very porous Seminole defense to start the game, allowing Clemson to shoot 52% in the first twenty minutes. As has been the case all season long, FSU’s defensive weakness has been in defending the perimeter and the Tigers took advantage, connecting on 6 of 12 from behind the arc in the period.

The ‘Noles did much better in the final period holding Clemson to just 35% from the floor and just 2 of 8 three pointers.

Even with the Seminole defense giving up few baskets, a continual parade to the free throw line by Clemson, where the Tigers converted 24 of 30 (29-38 overall), FSU never had any chance to make a dent in the deficit that hung mostly around ten points.

Florida State had its offensive struggles as well, especially in the first half, shooting just 24% (38% for the game thanks to several late second half baskets by Luke Loucks).

Getting to know Florida State's latest Nigel

Number two in our series on The New Noles

When FSU signed what's arguably the finest linebacker class in the country last week, Nigel Terrell wasn't the first name that jumped out. But this talented kid from suburban Birmingham should make a name for himself as a Seminole in years to come. Here's what we learned more about Nigel during our interview with Brett Barnett, his high school coach.

Did Nigel get on FSU's radar his Senior year?

Barnett: "Not really. He had a high ankle sprain his Senior year and didn't play but three or four games. He was only 100% in the first game of the year. But he had a really good Junior year (watch Nigel's 2008 highlights here) and had several offers. And he really liked Florida State."

Did some schools back off since he didn't play much as a Senior?

Barnett: "No, they stayed on him. Auburn offered him. He didn't commit because he wanted to take a visit or two and they filled up at linebacker. But you guys got a good one coming in there. He's got a ton of upside."

What are his best assets?

Barnett: "Just his raw athletic ability. His speed and ability to change directions at a high rate of acceleration. And strength. He's an exceptional athlete."

What do you think Nigel needs to work on?

Barnett: "Just to continue to improve. He's really raw. He played on the defensive side of the ball for just two years. I think a redshirt year would be ideal, but you're getting a good player. I think his potential is unlimited."

Why did he choose FSU?

Barnett: "I just think he liked the scheme defensively and thinks he has a chance to contribute down there. He got along with the coaching staff and had good rapport with those guys. So it was a good fit for him."

Does he have good grades and come from a good background?

Barnett: "Yes, he's already qualified. He lives with his Mom and has a younger brother that plays for us, and they're good folks. Very good kid. Great character."

Do you have any more that FSU's coming after for next year?

Barnett: (chuckles) "I don't know if we have one next year or not. I'd like to have a whole team like him. We'd be in good shape."

Is FSU Building a Paramus Pipeline?

Right there in the shadows of Manhattan's skyline -- and deep in "Soprano's" country -- Florida State might be establishing a nice beachhead for football recruiting.

Last week, the Noles signed Paramus Catholic OL Dan Foose. When Paramus Coach Gabe Infante gave us the 4-1-1 on Dan (see the post from last Friday if you missed it), he told us about another young lineman that FSU has offered a scholarship to -- this one for 2011.

He's Junior Defensive Tackle Marquise Wright. Said Coach Infante, "It looks like we're going to have a long-standing relationship with Florida State up here." And to that we say, Bada-Bing!

He lost a ton of wins, she lost her job and Florida State loses face

As FSU kisses goodbye a national championship and hard-earned wins in multiple sports, we can't help but focus on the odd couple here. Of all the people responsible for the shameful snatch and grab by the NCAA, these two are not without blame.

Brenda Monk says she was just doing her job. ESPN gave her the perfect soapbox to sound off, with scarcely any challenge to her claims.

Bobby Bowden makes a compelling case that it was an academic issue, not fodder for an NCAA witch hunt.

Not pictured, of course, is a third party in the messy affair: T.K. Wetherell who went to the mat for his old coach -- just maybe provoking the NCAA to play hard ball and vacate all those wins.

Generally overlooked in this soap opera is Bowden's coaching staff.

Due diligence in recruiting involves three areas: talent, character and the ability to do college level work. It's pretty apparent that between 2001 and 2007 the coaching staff focused on how a kid performed on the field and less about how he performed in the classroom and in life.

How else do you explain, for example, guys like Fred Rouse and Xavier Lee? Rouse was an "all-about-me" 5-star who quickly became a cancer on the team. Lee had great talent but no work ethic, preferring the club scene to cracking a book.

Those are just two of a long list that got kicked out, flunked out or never worked out.

True, every program has a few that don't cut it for any of those reasons. But FSU became a poster boy for the dysfunctional blue chipper.

Many accused Coach Bowden of lack of discipline. If true, it extended to the coaches. An undisciplined staff apparently lost sight of everything but how many stars a kid had by his name. Character and grades didn't appear to count for much.

Andrew Carter wrote a recent column saying Jimbo should delegate like Bowden did. Wrong. At least not the way it worked during Bowden's last nine years. He did more than just delegate responsibility to the coaching staff. In our opinion, his blind trust gave them free rein to cut corners in everything from recruiting to game planning. As wins became harder to achieve, the easier it was to justify signing kids who made poor grades. And even poorer role models.

And if what Brenda Monk says is even partly true, Florida State is paying an enormous price for a handful of coaches that were lazy, expedient, or in over their heads.

Noles down the Canes by two field goals (Okay, so it was basketball)

by Bill from Tampa

Leonard Hamilton had a short talk with his two point guards last Wednesday. What he told them was sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone and be aggressive.

Unselfish is not always a good thing and the usually unselfish guards responded.

Two days after Derwin Kitchen obliterated his previous career mark, Luke Loucks followed Kitchen’s lead in scoring 19 points, five better than his prior career high, in leading Florida State to a 71-65 victory over the Miami Hurricanes.

Loucks blistered the nets connecting on 5 of 7 from the floor including 3 of 5 three pointers and added 6 of 8 from the free throw line. In addition the sophomore pulled down five boards and had only one turnover against three assists in 25 minutes of court time.

It was Loucks’ best all around game in his nearly two seasons at FSU.

He did have help however with a lot of guys stepping up as Hamilton said afterwards.

“Chris Singleton, Solomon Alabi, and even Xavier Gibson who gave us tremendous contributions tonight.”

Among those contributions was a dazzling drop step against Randy Johnson along the right baseline, ending with a reverse slam dunk for the Dothan, Alabama native in scoring 8 points along with 4 rebounds.

Singleton was the only other Seminole in double digits with 10 points and Alabi added 9, but was very efficient with his shooting, connecting on 3 of 4 shots.

Getting to know the mystery man in FSU's recruiting class, thanks to his head coach

The player that FSU fans knew the least about on signing day was the only offensive lineman to ink with the Noles. He's Dan Foose (listed at 6-6, 310 lbs.) from Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey. We got the skinny on Dan -- why he chose Florida State and his upsides -- during this exclusive interview with Paramus Head Coach, Gabe Infante.

Coach, what's the story with Dan's last moment surprise switch from Illinois to FSU?

Infante: "The reasons he decided to go with Florida State are pretty sound ones. At the end of the day, I think he was concerned with the stability of the Illinois staff (note: Illinois made coaching changes in December). With everything that happened in the college football off-season, with all these guys (coaches) being fired and moving around, I think it weighed heavily on him, the stability of the people he was dealing with. He got pretty close to the Illinois coaches who were there at the beginning. But at the end of the day, I think Florida State was just a better opportunity. It's a very solid program and with Coach Fisher taking over the reins, you really can't turn down Florida State."

Tell us about Dan's progress a young offensive lineman.

Infante:  "This is my second year here and we're trying to build a program. And Dan is the first Division I athlete to come out of here in maybe 15 years. When I first met Dan two years ago I knew we had a bit of a project. Certainly Dan had the size and the vitals, but he needed to work on some things. And he's still a work in progress."

What did you work on with Dan?

Infante: "We spent a lot of time with Dan working on flexibility and making sure he's a good bender. There's two ways to lower your center of gravity: one is to bend at the waist, the other to bend at the knees. And the better athletes bend with the knees. When I first saw Dan, I said you've got the size for it, but it comes down to whether or not you can bend. I knew that was going to be the deciding factor for him. So Dan spent a lot of time working on those things, and I think it showed on tape. Coach Trickett recognized that and knew Dan could do those things."

What are Dan's best assets?

Infante: "The thing that makes Dan such a great college prospect is his work ethic. Dan has an incredible work ethic, and football is very important to him.

Free throws sink Noles when seconds count

by Bill from Tampa

Just when it looked like Florida State would tie Maryland, Michael Snaer was called for charging into Dino Gregory with 14.5 seconds left, taking away Snaer’s floater in the lane. The foul proved very costly, negating a tremendous hustle play by Chris Singleton to block Adrian Bowie’s breakaway lay up a minute earlier.

Time was short and Maryland made five of six free throws in those remaining seconds to defeat Florida State 71-67, dropping the Seminoles to 4-4 in conference play.

A Florida State turnover led to a two on none breakaway and what looked like a sure two points that would have put Maryland up 68-64. But Singleton came from nowhere, racing at least 75 feet to block Bowie’s shot from behind, keeping the ‘Noles within two with just over a minute to play.

Forced to foul after Snaer’s charge, his fifth foul of the game, Greivis Vasquez sank two freebies.

Kitchen was allowed an uncontested lay up and Sean Mosley was fouled immediately on the inbound pass. Mosley however made only one of two to make it a 69-66 game with eight seconds to go.

Gary Williams had his team foul Singleton with two seconds left, a wise strategy considering Singleton’s free throw percentage. Singleton made the first of his two free throws, while intentionally missing his second in an attempt to get the rebound, score, and tie the game. But Singleton missed the rim altogether turning the ball over to Maryland.

Vasquez made sure there would be no game tying basket by getting the final two points at the stripe.

It was a career night for Derwin Kitchen who scored 29 points on 12 of 16 from the floor. That however was little consolation to the junior guard.

It didn’t help that Kitchen got little offensive support with Solomon the only other Seminole in double figures with 12 points.

Overall the team shot poorly against the third best defense in the ACC in field goal defense percentage. As a team the ‘Noles were just 38% with three of the nine Seminoles who played not scoring at all.

Singleton was just 1 of 7 for only 5 points.

Gator Bait and Switch

It's back to chaos mode again in Hogtown. Recently hired gator D-Coordinator George Edwards is -- faster than you can say, "Hey, you having chest pains, Urban?" -- now gator EX D-Coordinator. Our deep cover spies in the reptile nation sent us these excerpts from digital intercepts of Urbie's cell phone.

January 9/4:39pm/Call to blue chip defensive back (name deleted)

Meyer: "You'll be glad to know we've hired an awesome new Defensive Coordinator. Name is George Edwards. Google his credentials, I think you'll be impressed. (name deleted), this will bring the kind of stability to our coaching staff that will ensure you a successful four year career here in Gainesville."

February 4/3:18pm/Call to same blue chip defensive back (name deleted)

Meyer: "Uh, remember Coach Edwards who recruited you? Yeah, I liked him, too. But, uh..."

Just released: 2010 FSU Football Schedule

Sept. 4  SAMFORD

Sept. 11  at Oklahoma

Sept. 18  BYU

Sept. 25  WAKE FOREST

Oct. 2  at Virginia

Oct. 9  at Miami

Oct. 16  BOSTON COLLEGE

Oct. 28  at NC State, ESPN*

Nov. 6  NORTH CAROLINA

Nov. 13  CLEMSON

Nov. 20  at Maryland

Nov. 27 FLORIDA

*Thursday night