By Jerry Kutz
Special to the Florida State Times
With strong finishes in its spring sports programs, Florida State finished 24th overall in the 1994-1995 Sears Director's Cup standings. The Director's Cup will be presented to Stanford women's athletics at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) annual meeting June 20 .
Florida State was in 57th place at the conclusion of the fall and winter sports seasons, but climbed to 33rd by the end of May thanks to strong national finishes in women's softball (9th), women's golf (21st) and men's tennis (25th). Fueled by 5th- and 7th-place finishes by men's baseball and golf in early June, the Seminoles cracked the final top 25.
Florida State president Sandy D'Alemberte set the Sears Director's Cup as a standard by which the overall Seminole athletic department could be judged. It is a standard athletic director Dave Hart embraces, in spite of the fact that FSU competes in only 16 of the 22 sports in which points are totalled.
Points are awarded for teams that earn berths in NCAA playoffs, based on the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament which has a field of 64. A first-place finish in any sport earns 64 points, down to 1 point for a 64th-place finish (if that many teams compete). Football points are awarded based on the final USA Today/CNN Coaches Poll.
The Seminoles, who finished 25th in Sears Cup standings for the 1993-94 athletic year, compete in eight men's sports and eight women's sports. That will increase to nine women's sports next fall when soccer is added.
Six of FSU's men's programs placed in the top 25 with football (5th), baseball (5th) and golf (7th) finishing in the top 10. The women did not fare as well this year as only softball (9th) and golf (21st) cracked the top 25. On the men's side, only basketball failed to record any points while the swimming and diving team (38th) was the only other women's finisher.
Atlantic Coast Conference brethren North Carolina finished 2nd in final standings, Virginia was 19th and Duke was 21st.
Florida (8th, 611) was one of six Southeastern Conference schools ranked in the top 25 at that time.
Florida State's outstanding season ended a couple of games too soon, as the Seminoles were eliminated after three games in the 49th annual College World Series, held in Omaha, Neb.
The Seminoles, who won FSU's first Atlantic Coast Conference baseball
championship last month in Greenville, SC, advanced to the CWS by
sweeping the
South Regional. It was the eighth time Mike Martin has taken a Florida
State
team to Omaha and his seventh trip since 1986.
In round one the Seminoles beat defending national champion Oklahoma on freshman J.D. Drew's two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Round two saw FSU fall to archrival Miami despite turning a school-record five double plays. And in their Omaha swan song, the Seminoles spotted Southern California a 14-2 lead, only to come roaring back on the strength of five home runs by freshman J.D. Drew and Doug Mientkiewicz, before falling 16-5.
The Seminoles placed two players on the All-CWS squad: Doug Mientkiewicz and center fielder J.D. Drew.
Mientkiewicz batted .538 (7 for 13) with a pair of home runs and seven RBI in three games. His numbers were bettered, though, by his freshman teammate, who hit .636 (7 for 11) with four dingers and eight RBI. Drew's three homers against Southern California set a College World Series single-game record.
Jonathan Johnson and David Yocum were taken in the first round of the Major League draft. Johnson was the seventh overall pick and the first college pitcher selected, by the Texas Rangers. The Dodgers made Yocum the No. 20 overall pick.
Their selections extended FSU's string of pitchers taken in the first round to four years -- Chris Roberts (1992), John Wasdin (1993) and Paul Wilson (1994). FSU has had at least one first-rounder for five straight years dating to 1991 (Eduardo Perez), with Kenny Felder joining Roberts in 1992.
Also chosen were first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (5th round, Minnesota), catcher Mike Martin Jr. (9th, San Diego), second baseman Mickey Lopez (12th, Milwaukee), pitcher Charlie Cruz (13th, Atlanta), pitcher Mike Bell (20th, Montreal), pitcher Phil Olson (20th, N.Y. Mets), and right fielder Randy Hodges (34th, Atlanta).
The Florida State men's golf team spent the first two rounds of the NCAA Golf Championships at or near the top of the leaderboard before settling for a seventh-place finish.
The top-10 finish was FSU's best since 1987, when the Seminoles finished seventh behind Nolan Henke. Florida State was the top finisher among eastern schools, with fellow ACC member N.C. State placing eighth. No other ACC school made the final cut of 15 teams.
Ken Staton led the way for FSU over Ohio State University's famed Scarlet Course. Staton's four-round total of 289 (1-over par) was good for a tie for 14th. George McNeil and Richard Fulford tied for 29th at 293; Christian Raynor fired 294 to tie for 35th; and Denny Tymosko finished 78th at 312. Auburn's Chip Spratlin won the individual title at 8-under 280.
Florida State sprinter Jonathan Carter finished eighth in the 100-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships. No other Seminole qualified for the finals.
McDonald's and Parade All-American Randell Jackson earned a qualifying SAT score, enabling him to enroll at Florida State next fall. The 6-11 shot- blocker is expected to make an immediate impact on Seminole basketball.
Joining Jackson in Tallahassee next year will be junior college transfers Gentry Sparks, a 6-8 forward, and Kelvin McClendon, a 6-5 guard.
Jackson's signing -- he chose FSU over North Carolina, Maryland and a host of others -- propelled Pat Kennedy's latest class into the top 25 nationally.
Jackson averaged 23.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5 blocked shots per game for Winchendon Prep School in Massachusetts. Sparks is an impressive physical specimen who averaged over 20 points and 8 boards for Barton County Community College in Kansas.
Florida State played America's toughest slate in 1994-95 according to Basketball Times. That publication rated the Seminoles' schedule, which included non-conference foes Arizona, Tulane and Florida (twice) plus the rugged ACC, just ahead of three other ACC schools: Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State.
Things won't get any easier this year as FSU will take on UConn in Tallahassee, DePaul in St. Petersburg, Tulane in New Orleans and Florida in Orlando.
LaMarr Greer will play for the South team in this summer's U.S. Olympic Festival. Greer, a rising sophomore point guard, started 26 of 27 games as a freshman and averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. The Olympic Festival is July 26-29 in Denver.
The preseason football publications seem to agree with what FSU alumni have known for years -- FSU is #1!
Athlon, Lindy's, Bob Griese's, Football Action, and Football News all pick Bobby Bowden's team the best in the land.
Florida State has been picked No. 1 by the Associated Press or by USA Today/CNN four times in the past eight years.
Their rationale for picking FSU this year is the return of starting quarterback Danny Kanell and running back Warrick Dunn as well as four of the five starting offensive linemen.
The Florida State-Clemson game of September 9 has been picked up by ABC for a regional broadcast at 3:30 p.m. ABC will also air FSU's opener against Duke in Orlando, Sept. 2, at 3:30 while ESPN will carry Miami-FSU (Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m.) and FSU-Virginia (Thursday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m.). Other games could be picked up by either network, Jefferson Pilot, or the Sunshine Network. Stay tuned.
The Hall of Fame Weekend is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 15-16; Parents' weekend is Oct. 14; and Homecoming will be the weekend of the Georgia Tech game, Oct. 21.
Sept.2 Duke in Orlando ABC 3:30
Sept. 9 Clemson ABC 12:00 noon
Sept.16 N.C. State
Sept. 23 Central Florida
Oct. 7 Miami ESPN 7:30
Oct. 14 Wake Forest
Oct. 21 Georgia Tech
Nov. 2 at Virginia ESPN 8:00
Nov. 11 at North Carolina
Nov. 18 Maryland
Nov. 25 at Florida