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ON O'DONNELL: Is in his second season as a member of the Florida State men's basketball team and plans to continue improving as a player in hopes to earn increased playing time...earned playing time in eight games including two ACC games against Virginia Tech and North Carolina during his freshman season...a hard worker with a great deal of basketball knowledge and is a fantastic practice player...emulates the opposing teams' point guard in preparation for upcoming games...gained the experience of playing in eight games during his first season as a Seminole - experiences which will begin to prepare him for increased playing time during the remainder of his career...is a great teammate who can always be counted on in the gym and working with his teammates both before and after practice... enjoyed a stellar high school career and will help the Seminoles during his career...played in one of the higher classifications (5A) in the state of Florida during his high school career and displayed rapid improvement while playing against the talent in practice at Florida State and against the competition in the ACC...earned the award for First Year Academic Achievement at the Seminoles' 2008 Honors Banquet...
AS A FRESHMAN (2008): Averaged 0.4 points (14th on the team) while playing in eight of the Seminoles' 34 games during the season...earned playing time for the first time in his career against Nicholls State (Nov. 9)...earned one minute of playing time in the Seminoles' 81-58 victory in the Donald L. Tucker Center against Nicholls State...also earned playing time during the non-conference schedule in victories over Georgia State (Nov. 20), Stetson (Nov. 30) and Maine (Dec. 8)...played against both Butler (Dec. 15) and Providence (Dec. 22) in order to utilize his 3-point shooting talents as the Seminoles worked to rally in important games on the road...his first career assists came in his first career game against Nicholls State...earned his career-high of three minutes of playing time and two assists against Maine...gained his first career steal against the Black Bears in the Seminoles' 95-55 win at home...(vs. Virginia Tech): earned one minute of playing time but did not score in the Seminoles only game against Virginia Tech during his freshman season...utilized late in the game as the coaching staff made substitutions based on offensive and defensive possessions as the Seminoles worked their way back from as much as a 20point deficit to pull themselves within five points of gaining the victory on the road (Jan. 29)...was substituted into the game five times in the final minutes of the game as Florida State nearly recovered to gain the road win in league play...(vs. North Carolina): scored three points in one minute of play against NCAA Tournament Final Four participant North Carolina...scored the first basket of his career in the second half of the Seminoles' game at Chapel Hill (March 4)...his first career made basket was a 3-pointer in the Dean Smith Center in the Tar Heels' 90-77 victory over the Seminoles...
AT LARGO: Graduated from Largo High School in 2007...earned All-State Honorable Mention honors following his senior season...averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 assists as a senior...shot .487 from the field, .350 from the 3-point line and .740 from the free throw line as a senior...was Largo's leader in assists and third leading scorer his senior season...led Largo to a 23-6 record his senior season...earned All-County First-Team and All-Pinellas County Athletic Conference First-Team honors as a senior...the team Most Valuable Player as both as sophomore and a senior...enjoyed an outstanding senior season as he was named to the All-Tournament teams as he was named to the all-tournament teams at the Kingdom of the Sun, Naples Holiday Shootout and Largo Holiday Tournaments...was named the MVP of the Largo Holiday Tournament as a senior...helped lead Largo to consecutive district championships during his junior and senior seasons...Largo was ranked No. 9 in the state in the final rankings of the 2007 season...was a four year starter for the Largo varsity...played in the Florida East/West Senior Showcase All-State game following his senior season...ranked among the top 50 players in the state of Florida by HoopScoop Online.
PERSONAL: Born Dec. 8, 1988...Ben is the son of Kathleen and Daniel O'Donnell...earned Honor Roll Academic Mention during each of his four year in high school and was a member of the Dean's List as a junior and senior...enjoys all waters ports and plays the drums...chose to join the Florida State basketball teams after receiving scholarship offers from eight Division I schools including William and Mary, East Tennessee State, Stetson and the University of Idaho...a brother, Mike, played one season at NC State...Mike played 30 games and averaged 2.4 points during the 2003-04 season for the Wolfpack before transferring to UCF and served as the team captain for the Knights in 2007 and 2008...he graduated from UCF in 2008.
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