Florida State men's basketball's rotation this season looks almost like a line change in ice hockey.

Head coach Leonard Hamilton has talked about winning by committee this season, playing 10 to 12 players in games, with the leading scoring registering no more than 13 points. It's not something FSU expected to do coming into this season, but almost needed to be done to win.

The Seminoles (9-6, 3-1 ACC) are riding a three-game win streak heading into Saturday's conference game at Notre Dame (7-9, 1-3) at 2:15 p.m. FSU is also searching for its first road victory.

Boasting a roster made up of young talent and transfers, FSU has had an untraditional look compared to other teams in the ACC. But it has made it work, leaning on just about everyone to win. Hamilton said that the team should be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

"That's easier said than done," Hamilton said. "You have to find a way to communicate with each individual's personality and get all of them to buy into a certain mindset. "They're seeing that with a certain individual mindset and everybody's thinking the same way. There's synergy and growth and they can play off each other."

'He's an unconquered Seminole'

One player who has really encapsulated the mentality of becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable is graduate student Jaylan Gainey. Prior to FSU's game against Georgia on Nov. 29, Gainey had not played in a game for 635 days.

He suffered a season-ending knee injury on September 23, 2022, right after he had transferred to FSU from Brown University. Now, he's playing an active role on the roster, averaging 3.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Gainey said while it's been great to be back, there has been the mental hurdle of possibly reinjuring himself as his knee is not at 100%.

"That challenge is just my knees are still not 100%," Gainey said. "It was kind of just trying to fight through that every possession and just keep pushing through. Knowing that sometimes it's gonna hurt it's just like a constant mental battle."

"People always think that any type of long step something bad's gonna happen. It's just like a mental aspect."

Hamilton praised Gainey for his work ethic and his effort to come back, even when he's not at 100%. He said that Gainey added something to FSU that is needed.

"He's an unconquered Seminole pure and through," Hamilton said. "Even when he was limping around on one leg, his determination. His focus was that I just wanted to help my team. And now that he's gotten healthier and he's running better."

"Mentally, he's just a warrior. He brings a sacrifice and he's bringing something to our team that we've been missing."

Keeping guys fresh

The edge that FSU has had in its recent games is the ability to keep everyone fresh while other teams may start getting fatigued. In the Seminoles' 87-82 win over ACC leader Wake Forest on Tuesday, only three FSU players logged over 25 minutes.

Compared to Wake Forest, who had all of its starters in for over 28. FSU also played six players off the bench, who scored 26 points, compared to the Demon Deacon's five players who combined for 13. All 13 of Wake's bench points came from Parker Friedrichsen.

"We're able to keep fresh bodies and so that's a big thing," Gainey said. "Instead of guys playing 25-30 minutes, guys are evenly distributing 15-20 minutes. It just keeps everybody fresh and other teams playing like got seven guys for 30 minutes."

"There are bonuses keep putting fresh guys on and just keeps them tired and keeps us going."

There has been a learning period when it comes to this "winning by committee" system according to Hamilton. Some players aren't used to sharing minutes across the board like the Seminoles do, coming from high schools or other programs where they ate up a lot of playing time.

Another challenge has been figuring out a pace. Hamilton said in the preseason that was something he was figuring out with his own players as they'd come back to the bench, out of breath, midway through games.

"Now we're kind of learn on the fly and we're not quite having the energy dips," Hamilton said. "A lot of that is because you can get a little rest and you can get a breather and kind of can recover."

Hamilton has spoken before about how he's used this "win by committee" style before, but the type of team FSU has this year makes it unique. However, it's nothing he hasn't seen before.

He references back to his days at Miami as head coach from 1990 to 2000 in the Big East Conference. At the time, the conference was the best in basketball, made up of teams Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova and Connecticut, all headed by legendary coaches and boosted by talented players.

The Hurricanes became a member of the power conference in Hamilton's second season, 1991. He was heading into the top basketball conference with a program that had been reinstated six years before. Miami didn't have a traditional makeup of players but found a system that helped it win.

"We had to figure out a way of playing harder and different from a defensive standpoint, Hamilton said. "How we approached the game was a little different. That gave us a chance to crack into that upper echelon of the Big East.

"And it's the same thing in ACC. It's the same level of talent, and level of coaching, but when you start off with a program, you don't necessarily have the same level of players. You've got to find a way though to be successful against everybody else's system."

How to watch FSU men's basketball at Notre Dame

Who: Florida State (9-6, 3-1 ACC) vs. Notre Dame (7-9, 2-3)

When/Where: 2:15 p.m., Saturday, Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, IN

TV/Radio: CW Network/101.5 FM

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State men's basketball proudly leaning on full roster to win