Florida State has turned plenty of heads on the hardwood after starting 16-1 and ascending to No. 9 in the AP Poll. Dwayne Bacon has again been a special player for FSU and freshman phenom Jonathan Isaac has been as good as advertised. A big reason for the Seminoles’ success early on however, is one of the few veterans on the team, redshirt junior guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes.
After being ruled academically ineligible as a true freshman during the 2013-14 season, Rathan-Mayes burst onto the scene in his second year on campus in Tallahassee. Though the Seminoles finished just 17-16 with no postseason, Rathan-Mayes became the first freshman to lead FSU in scoring in nearly half a century, averaging 14.9 points per game.
Twice that season, Rathan-Mayes set a new FSU freshman scoring record with 35 points, including a spurt for the ages at Miami in which he scored 30 points in a span of 4:39.
After being relied heavily upon as a scorer, Rathan-Mayes took on more of a role as a facilitator with Bacon and Malik Beasley coming in last season, but still seemed to struggle a bit when it came to adapting. Rathan-Mayes sat out a contest against Louisville last season in what was simply declared a “coach’s decision”, but thought to be disciplinary.
This season, Rathan-Mayes quietly seems to be putting it all together, making good on promises he made in the preseason.
“The biggest thing I’ve worked on this summer is trying to be super-efficient from the floor,†Rathan-Mayes said during ACC media days. “I’ve worked really hard at improving my percentages. I’m just going to work extremely hard to try to be a leader for this team.â€
Despite 23 points against Wake Forest to start ACC play and 21 in Tuesday’s 88-72 win over Duke, Rathan-Mayes is set to have his worst scoring season yet. With that said, Rathan-Mayes has gotten better in virtually every other category and seems to be in command of the offense.
While Rathan-Mayes is only averaging 11.1 points per game this season compared to 11.8 last season and nearly 15 two years ago, he’s been far more efficient. Rathan-Mayes is shooting better than 47 percent from the floor after shooting less than 41 percent last season.
After shooting just over 28 percent from deep in his first two seasons, Rathan-Mayes is stroking it from beyond the arc at a nearly 36 percent clip this year. His 4.6 assists per game average is set to be a new career-high, but he’s done it in less minutes and with fewer turnovers. Rathan-Mayes currently owns a 2.6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is much better than his 1.8 ratio from last season and is double what it was as a freshman.
Rathan-Mayes’ improvement however, can’t just be seen in the box score. This season, Rathan-Mayes has seemed to make a conscious effort to try to get others going first before looking for his own offense. Rathan-Mayes also seems to have a really good feel for when to attack or try to take over. This was evident in the aforementioned home victories over Wake Forest and Duke.
Rathan-Mayes scored 18 of his team-high 21 points Tuesday in the second half and 16 after the Blue Devils had rallied to take a 50-48 lead early in the half. Against Wake Forest on Dec. 28, Rathan-Mayes scored 11 of his 23 points in the final 9:06 as the Seminoles turned a 5-point deficit into a 16-point victory.
Rathan-Mayes isn’t the best player for Florida State and with Isaac in Tallahassee this year, he’s probably not the second-best, but when all is said and done, he may be FSU’s most important player. Rathan-Mayes is the most experienced player on the team; he’s the guy that gets the Seminoles into their offense and he’s capable of carrying the offense on select nights.
The fact that Rathan-Mayes has become more efficient in every area shows a dedication some may have felt he lacked. Rathan-Mayes is a big reason for FSU’s ascension this season and if the Seminoles are to reach their full potential, he’ll be a big reason for that as well.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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