Florida State University's men's basketball team isn't quite the nationally recognized powerhouse that the school's football program is, but it has had success in its own right. It has reached the NCAA Tournament 18 times, and while it has never officially won the national championship, it was declared the men's NCAA champions in 2020 by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida State Legislature when the tournament was canceled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 53 members of the Seminoles have been drafted into the NBA, including Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors, Terance Mann of the Brooklyn Nets and the San Antonio Spurs' Devin Vassell. It is the college team Dave Cowens, the Hall of Fame center, once played for before
helping the Boston Celtics win two world championships in the mid-1970s.
The Los Angeles Lakers have taken two Florida State University products in the NBA draft. Here is a look at each of them.
Tony Jackson -- guard
Jackson played a nondescript four seasons with the Seminoles before the Lakers took him in the fourth round of the 1980 draft. He played one season in the NBA with the Lakers, and in two games, he totaled two points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Elvis Rolle -- center
Rolle transferred to Florida State University after spending two years at Oral Roberts University, and he averaged 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds a game with the Seminoles. He was a second-round draft pick in 1981, and while he never played in the NBA, he had a lengthy 13-year basketball career in Europe, mostly in Italy.
Von Wafer -- guard
Wafer put up 10.1 points a game in two years with the Seminoles before the Lakers took him in the second round of the 2005 draft. As a rookie with the Lakers, he appeared in 16 games and registered 1.3 points in 4.6 minutes a game.
He would spend five more seasons in the NBA before playing for a number of foreign teams. For his NBA career, Wafer averaged 5.3 points in 12.4 minutes per contest.
Toney Douglas -- guard
Douglas was at Auburn University during his freshman year of college before transferring to Florida State University and spending the following three years with the Seminoles. The Lakers took him with the No. 29 pick in the 2009 draft and immediately traded him to the New York Knicks for cash and a 2011 second-rounder.
He spent eight years in the league for seven different teams and averaged 7.6 points and 2.3 assists in 19.1 minutes a game for his career.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Every Florida State University player drafted by the Lakers
