By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
What was looking like a promising season for Florida State was dealt a massive blow on Monday afternoon after Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton told reporters that star freshman shooting guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes will be ineligible this season after not making it through the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Multiple reports on Monday afternoon said the NCAA did not accept a full year’s worth of credits Rathan-Mayes took while at Christian Faith Center Academy in North Carolina. That school was set up and run by controversial Canadian grassroots figure Ro Russell.
A consensus top-50 recruit of Canadian descent, Rathan-Mayes played last season at Huntington (W.V.) Prep with fellow-countryman and Kansas freshman sensation Andrew Wiggins.
Florida State is working with the NCAA to get the issue resolved, but the loss of a main perimeter option is going to hurt the Seminoles, who also lost leading-scorer Michael Snaer to the NBA.
