One of the youngest basketball programs in the country, the Seminoles began playing basketball around the same time that the school, which until 1947 was an all-girl school, began to admit men. Despite the head start that was given by established programs like Kentucky and Duke, the Seminoles have achieved moderate success in basketball. The Seminoles have two conference regular-season championships in their history, one coming in 1955 as members of the Florida Intercollegiate Conference and the other in 1991 as members of the Metro Conference.

In their history, the Seminoles have been part of 11 NCAA Tournaments, their first appearance coming in 1955. In 1972, the Seminoles reached the Final Four, losing to the UCLA Bruins in the national championship game. They have also played in the NIT seven times and finished runner-up in 1997.

 

Perhaps no other individual has had as much of an impact on the Seminoles' rise to national prominence as Hugh Durham. Durham played at Florida State in the 1950s, scoring 1,381 points in three years. His average of 21.9 points per game in 1958-59 is the seventh best tally in Florida State history.Durham's career average of 18.9 points per game is still the ninth best in school history. After his playing career had ended, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach in 1959. Seven years later, Durham would be named head coach in 1966. One of the top players during this time was future NBA Hall-of-Famer Dave Cowens who still holds nearly every Seminole rebounding record. He is the program’s all-time leader with 1,340 rebounds and he anchored the squad that went 23-3 in 1969–70. Durham led the Seminoles from 1966 to 1978. In 1972, Durham led Florida State to a runner-up finish in the NCAA tournament. A hard-fought 81–76 loss to the top-ranked UCLA Bruins in the NCAA Championship game prevented Durham's Florida State team from winning the NCAA Tournament. Another key player for the Seminoles was Harry Davis, who helped the program sustain stability.

Durham's overall record at Florida State was a 230–95 record with three NCAA tournament bids. He still owns the highest winning percentage of any Florida State coach at .708. Durham is the only coach in NCAA history to be the all-time winningest coach (percentage or wins) at three different Division I schools.

 

Florida State is one of only two ACC schools that have had at least one player selected in each of the last four NBA Drafts.Hearing their names called on recent draft days were Tim Pickett by the New Orleans Hornets in 2004, Von Wafer by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005, Alexander Johnson by the Indiana Pacers in 2006 and Al Thornton by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2007 giving Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton four NBA draft choices in his first four years at Florida State. A total of 35 Seminoles have been selected in the NBA Draft including seven first round picks. Among those first round selections are Dave Cowens, one of the greatest centers in NBA history, and George McCloud, the first lottery selection in school history.toney douglas,played for florida state for the last five years before being drafted first round by the lakers but was traded to the knicks. Today, five Seminoles are on NBA rosters and 16 have played in the league in the last 17 years.

 

Regular Season Schedule and Results
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME/RESULT	RECORD
November 16	Jacksonville	W 87-61	1-0
November 18	Stetson	W 80-38	2-0
November 21	at Mercer	W 89-50	3-0
November 24	at Florida	L 68-52	3-1
November 26	vs. Iona*	W 54-49	4-1
November 27	vs. Alabama*	W 60-51	5-1
November 29	vs. Marquette*	W 57-56	6-1
December 2	at No. 15 Ohio State	L 77-64	6-2
December 6	FIU	W 82-62	7-2
December 15	Georgia State	W 62-55	8-2
December 17	Auburn	W 76-72	9-2
December 20	at No. 15 Georgia Tech	W 66-59	10-2 (1-0)
December 22	Tennessee-Martin	W 95-68	11-2
December 31	Alabama A&M	W 81-34	12-2
January 4	Texas A&M-CC	W 94-54	13-2
January 10	at Maryland	L 77-68	13-3 (1-1)
January 12	North Carolina State	L 88-81	13-4 (1-2)
January 16	Virginia Tech	W 63-58	14-4 (2-2)
January 24	No. 18 Georgia Tech	W 68-66	15-4 (3-2)
January 27	at No. 7 Duke	L 60-56	15-5 (3-3)
January 30	at Boston College	W 61-57	16-5 (4-3)
February 4	Maryland	L 71-67	16-6 (4-4)
February 6	Miami (FL)	W 71-65	17-6 (5-4)
February 10	at No. 21 Clemson	L 77-67	17-7 (5-5)
February 14	Boston College	W 62-47	18-7 (6-5)
February 17	at Virginia	W 69-50	19-7 (7-5)
February 24	at North Carolina	W 77-67	20-7 (8-5)
February 28	No. 21 Clemson	L 53-50	20-8 (8-6)
March 3	Wake Forest	W 51-47	21-8 (9-6)
March 6	at Miami (FL)	W 61-60	22-8(10-6)