The Florida State men’s basketball season is in a freefall.

Losses are mounting, and so are the injuries.

Freshman John Butler was the latest casualty on Saturday, injuring his ankle in the loss to Wake Forest and missing the entire second half.

That made four starters who couldn't play for the Seminoles against the Demon Deacons (center Tanor Ngom also missed parts of the game with a minor knee injury). And the result — a hard-fought 68-60 defeat -- wasn't exactly a stunner.

But you know who could play on Saturday? And who played more minutes than he had since he was a double-double machine back in Mandeville, La.

Harrison "The Weatherman" Prieto.

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I know the season is spiraling. I know the losses are hard to watch. I know at a place like Florida State, it's hard to find solace in any conference defeats.

But man, I hope we all appreciate what Prieto did on Saturday.

A walk-on, playing against a 19-5 team that features a really impressive frontcourt, went out and posted a 13-point, 12-rebound, two-steal effort.

He had seven offensive rebounds! Seven!

It didn't end up being in a win, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a winning effort. And one that should be celebrated despite the final result.

"A lot of times he's on the Green (scout) team, preparing us for the other team," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That just shows how much savvy he has, how intelligent he is. Been here for a while, understands what we did. He got 13 rebounds not because he's out-jumping anybody but he's putting himself in the right positions.

"He stepped up tonight and gave us great leadership. I can't say enough about how proud I am of him."

Saturday wasn't the first time Prieto played valuable minutes for the Seminoles this season. He was key to a second-half run in the road win at Syracuse, and he also played 15 minutes at Clemson on Wednesday night.

But this was a whole different experience altogether.

When Ngom went down early with an injury — he returned later -- Prieto was the first player off the Seminole bench. And he went onto play, by far, the best game of his career. In fact, I can write with confidence that it was one of the best games a walk-on has ever played at Florida State.

He kept FSU in the game in the first half because the Seminoles couldn't make diddly poo from the floor. And he had three big buckets in the second half, his last one — off a nice feed from Caleb Mills -- cut the Wake advantage to two with 2:47 left.

The veteran forward, who is getting his master’s degree in meteorology, was rightly exhausted when the game ended.

"I feel like I need to get in the cold tub," Prieto said. "The only similar feeling I think I've ever had is after a big swim meet when I swam in high school. That is a pretty similar feeling of fatigue to this."

He admitted he could feel himself -- and his team — hitting a wall in the final few minutes. The Seminoles routinely have a rotation of 11 players. On Saturday, that number was down to about 7 or 8. And one of them was a walk-on.

It just so happened the walk-on was the best player on the floor for FSU.

"I know our system inside and out," Prieto said. "So it's not so much thinking about what I'm going to do (on the court), it's more just hyping myself up to be ready to fight and play as hard as I can. I mean, at the end of the day, I have a distinct athletic disadvantage compared to a lot of the guys out there.

"So, I want to make up for that by playing harder than anybody else on the court."

Well, he certainly did that on Saturday. He was around every loose ball, grabbed seven offensive rebounds and was a key part in the Seminoles' run. Athletic disadvantage or not, he was an enormous factor for Florida State.

It's fun to watch someone play that hard. Especially someone who barely gets to play at all.

It's not only a great teaching lesson for his more athletically advantaged teammates, but it's a testament to why sports can be so fun to watch.

No, it wasn't a storybook ending. The last chapter wasn't him getting carried off the court by fans after a buzzer-beating basket. He walked off the court after yet another loss.

But a player who has been on the scout team for essentially his entire career -- and it's been a long career -- was asked to step up for his injured team on Saturday and give every single thing he had in a pivotal ACC game.

All he did was go out and have a double-double against one of the best squads in the conference.

Let's appreciate that. I know we're disappointed how this season has turned out. I know Florida State has been through some bad luck with injuries, and I know that offense was a trainwreck in the first half. But that doesn't mean we can't applaud how hard that short-handed team played on Saturday.

And how good The Weatherman was. Even in defeat.

"At the end of the day, I don't care what my stat line is," Prieto said. "I just want to win. The thing for me is our coaching staff took a chance on me six years ago. And I'm going to give them everything I can. I'm going to give the guys in the locker room everything I can. If that means I end up with 13 points and 13 rebounds, then so be it.

"But I'd rather contribute positively in a game and put us in a position to win the game. That's literally all I care about at this point."

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.

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