TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The wild card for any team is injuries.
And the deck was unpredictably full of wild cards for the Florida State men's basketball team this season.
Xavier Gibson, Ian Miller, Terrance Shannon and Chris Singleton have missed a combined 28 games due to injury.
But FSU (21-9, 11-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) has survived the injuries because of its defense, which ranks as one of the nation's best, and a deep bench that has been able to plug any holes in the lineup.
"We knew going into the season that depth was going to be a strength," said junior-college transfer Bernard James, a center who is averaging 8.3 points and 5.6 rebounds this season. "When the injuries came, we were sad to lose the players but we knew the team wasn't going to go down in flames."
The biggest test came when Singleton, FSU's leading scorer, rebounder and arguably the nation's best defensive player, injured his foot in the first half against Virginia on Feb. 12.
FSU rallied to beat the Cavaliers and then won three of its last five games without Singleton. Were it not for a stunning buzzer-beating 3-pointer by North Carolina's Harrison Barnes on March 2, the Seminoles would have made it four out of five.
The Seminoles have proven their mettle without Singleton, grabbing 11 conference wins -- a feat that the program hasn't achieved since the 1992-93 team won 12 ACC games with future NBA first-round picks Charlie Ward, Sam Cassell, Bob Sura and Doug Edwards.
So the question now is this: how good could FSU be if Singleton is able to come back and play in the ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament?
"It's big," James said. "Chris takes all the clutch shots for us. And he's an NBA-caliber player."
FSU coaches would love to have Singleton in the lineup when the Seminoles, who earned a first-round bye in the ACC tournament, play the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech winner on Friday at 9 p.m. in Greensboro, N.C.
Singleton is able to practice and has made strides considering he had foot surgery less than a month ago. FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said he won't risk playing Singleton if he's less than 100 percent.
"He's made tremendous progress," Hamilton said. "As encouraged as I am, you really don't know. None of us know."
FSU has never won an ACC tournament trophy although the Seminoles reached the title game two years ago after a stunning upset of the Tar Heels.
The Seminoles feel that with or without Singleton this team is special -- a group that has found ways to win despite all of the injuries.
Yes, it's unlikely that FSU would win three games in as many days and raise the trophy on Sunday, especially when it would mean going through possibly North Carolina and Duke.
But the Seminoles would love to claim the title on Sunday in what has been a wild season.
"It's something this program hasn't done," senior guard Derwin Kitchen said. "If we go to the ACC tournament and win the championship, that will put this program on another level."
