Growing up in Alpharetta, Malik Beasley had been to Philips Arena several times before Sunday to cheer for the Hawks, including his friend Dennis Schroder. This time, he came as a competitor, the leading scorer for Florida State and one of the best freshmen in the country.
A graduate of St. Francis School, Beasley contributed 10 points and the Seminoles held off Virginia Commonwealth 76-71 in an unusual neutral-site game held at Philips. In the process, FSU’s roots in metro Atlanta deepened just a little more.
“It’s good that people can come out and see us in person and see us play in a big-time arena, in a big-time venue,” FSU assistant coach Charlton Young said. “It’s a heck of an advantage for our program and showcase for Coach (Leonard) Hamilton and the program.”
In Hamilton’s 14-season tenure at FSU, metro Atlanta has been exceedingly kind to the Seminoles. Hamilton has procured future first-round draft picks Toney Douglas and Chris Singleton out of Jonesboro and Dunwoody high schools, respectively. Also returning home Sunday were forwards Phil Cofer (Whitewater High) and Jarquez Smith (Jones County High, north of Macon).
On top of that, the Seminoles reached the 2009 ACC Tournament final at the Georgia Dome and won their first-ever ACC championship at Philips in 2012. When arena officials sought to bring the Seminoles to Philips, it was little wonder Hamilton happily agreed, even if the date was to play mid-major powerhouse VCU. Attendance, boosted in no small part by Beasley’s cheering section, was 1,786.
Hamilton said the idea began as a doubleheader, hearkening back to the Kuppenheimer Classic event in the early 1990s, but scheduling conflicts precluded it.
“Atlanta’s been good to us, all the way around,” Hamilton said. “We always look forward to coming here.”
If it somehow helps bring in players like Beasley, who wouldn’t? Prior to Sunday, the Seminoles’ seventh game of the season, Beasley led all freshmen nationally at 20 points per game, third in the ACC overall. He was 10th nationally and first in the ACC at 3-point shooting percentage (53.3 percent).
“It’s the best basketball city in America right now,” said Young, a former Georgia Tech assistant under Paul Hewitt and later Georgia Southern’s head coach. “No question. It’s New York City 25 years ago.”
Young said he devotes a “tremendous amount” of his recruiting attention to metro Atlanta, tapping sources developed in his years coaching at Tech and in Statesboro.
“This is as strong a recruiting area as anywhere in the country,” Hamilton said. “You look around, you have great athletes in all sports spread out throughout the area. You probably look around the country, you have a lot of kids from the Atlanta area on a lot of different teams in all sports. It’s a hotbed for basketball, as well.”
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