When the Florida State men's basketball team opens preseason practice on Saturday, head coach Leonard Hamilton's staff will officially begin the process of blending together an interesting assortment of players.
There are six returning scholarship players, two incoming freshmen, two junior college transfers, two Division-I transfers and five veteran walk-ons.
While several of the newcomers will be called upon to contribute this season, the player with perhaps the greatest opportunity to crack the starting lineup from Day One is Ole Miss transfer Dominik Olejniczak.
The 7-foot, 260-pound center not only helps fill a major position of need -- FSU lost its top two centers from last season's squad, which advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament -- but he brings a wealth of experience on both the college and international stages.
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Olejniczak, a fifth-year senior who is eligible immediately because he already earned his bachelor's degree, spent part of this summer with Poland's national team. The highlight of that experience was playing in the FIBA World Cup in China, where Olejniczak competed against many of the best players on the planet, including NBA stars on Team USA and other rosters.
"It was a great experience, you know, just being out there with the best players out of my country and also the best players in the whole world to be honest," Olejniczak said. "And it was just great to be there to watch them -- like not just on the court -- but like in the hotel. Like, how do they interact? What do they do off the court? All the little stuff.
"I feel like that was very valuable for me ... and you know, I was playing with like NBA guys, and right now I'm going back to playing college. I'm not gonna play anybody better than I was during the summer, so that's a huge boost in my confidence for sure."
Olejniczak actually was pretty well-traveled long before he was selected for his national team.
He spent his freshman year at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He then transferred to Ole Miss, and after sitting out one year per NCAA transfer rules, Olejniczak was a part-time starter each of the past two seasons.
The athletic big man started 22 games and averaged 5.3 points and 3.0 rebounds on last year's Rebels squad, which advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Then with one year of eligibility remaining, he decided to enter the transfer market again and see what other opportunities might be available.
Florida State quickly soared to the top of Olejniczak's list because the Seminoles had courted him once before -- when he announced he was leaving Drake -- and they sealed his commitment with a quick but effective recruiting visit this past May.
"I was looking for a really good connection with my teammates ... and the guys showed me what they're about and how close they are," Olejniczak said. "I really, really loved it. And that was like the most important thing for me."
Olejniczak, whose mother was a professional basketball player, said he only watched Florida State play a couple of times last season. But once he did some research, he was impressed by how the Seminoles use their big men.
While they sometimes ask their centers to play a traditional back-to-the-basket style, they also look for them to score in the open floor. Olejniczak got a taste of that during the limited workouts the Seminoles were able to conduct this summer before the official start of practice this weekend.
"I can tell how much emphasis Coach Ham is putting into feeding the bigs," he said. "Like rolling and passing the ball to the bigs ... that's amazing."
If Olejniczak picks things up quickly, he could help fill the void left by Christ Koumadje and Mfiondu Kabengele, both of whom are now on NBA rosters. Kabengele was a first-round pick of the L.A. Clippers, while Koumadje was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Olejniczak said he has especially enjoyed learning the nuances of the position from FSU associate head coach Stan Jones, who helped both of those big men blossom into NBA prospects, as well as many others.
"It's so many things, really," Olejniczak said, when asked about specific things he's learned. "Coach Jones' knowledge about the big guys is amazing. I enjoy learning every day about it. He knows what it takes to be at the next level because he was there himself. So he knows like, what the big guys are lacking at the next level or what they need to have to be on the next level."
Florida State opens practice on Saturday in preparation for its season opener Nov. 6 at Pittsburgh. The Seminoles also will host a pair of exhibition games, Oct. 22 against Barry University and Nov. 1 vs. Columbus State.
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