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Highly touted FSU freshman declared ineligible

Florida State was counting on heralded freshman Xavier Rathan-Mayes this upcoming season. On Monday, Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton he found out Rathan-Mayes was declared ineligible this season.

"It's unfortunate that we won't have Xavier this season, but I'm confident our team has grown and we will be prepared to handle this adversity," Hamilton said.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Rathan-Mayes was ranked in the top 50 by most recruiting services. He was expected to provide a significant spark to the Seminoles, who lost leading scorer Michael Snaer to graduation.

Rathan-Mayes, averaged 13.7 points and 6.7 assists per game for Huntington (W.Va.) Prep last season where he was a teammate of consensus top recruit Andrew Wiggins.

"Following a review by the NCAA Eligibility Center, it was determined that some of the coursework Xavier completed during his high school enrollment could not be used to satisfy NCAA Division I initial-eligibility requirements," Florida State released in a statement. "The NCAA has allowed Xavier to enroll immediately at Florida State and receive athletics scholarship. However, he will not be permitted to practice or compete during the first year of enrollment."

Sophomores Devon Bookert and Montay Brandon are expected to battle for the starting point guard spot.