Trent Forrest looks back on memorable plays from his FSU basketball career
Wednesday night was just another chapter in the Trent Forrest legacy at Florida State.
Trailing by three points in the final minute at Notre Dame, the senior point guard scored five straight points to give the Seminoles a come-from-behind victory.
It was the latest big moment in a career of big moments.
Forrest already is the all-time winningest player in Florida State history, and on Saturday he has a chance to lead the Seminoles to their first-ever ACC regular-season championship.
His place in FSU lore is already secure, no matter how the rest of this month plays out.
So with that in mind, Warchant sat down with Forrest on Thursday afternoon -- less than 18 hours after his latest highlight moment -- to relive and rewatch some of the most memorable plays of his storied career. (Each tale is accompanied by a highlight video from FSU's television partners.)
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The Pass
Nov. 28, 2016 vs. Minnesota
In his first season with the Seminoles, Forrest was a role player, a back-up point guard for Xavier Rathan-Mayes. He wasn't the most hyped freshman on the team. That honor, of course, went to Jonathan Isaac, who would go on to be the No. 6 pick in the NBA Draft.
On this night, in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge against Minnesota, Forrest introduced himself to FSU fans -- and the nation, for that matter -- with a highlight-reel, over-the-shoulder, no-look pass to Isaac for a dunk.
"Yeah, I remember this," Forrest said with a laugh. "When I was going to pick up the ball, I still saw Jon behind me a little bit. So I knew he was somewhere in this area essentially. I just figured if I could throw it anywhere toward the basket, he would be there. It was very risky, honestly.
"It was really just playing basketball. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. During the game, I really didn't think that I had thrown the ball behind my head. It was just kind of another day playing basketball. So when it happened, I was really just like, 'OK. Jon got it. Let's go on to the next play.' But after the game, when I watched it I was like, 'Yo, did I really just do a blind, behind-the-back pass?'"
The Late Heroics
Feb. 14, 2018 vs. Clemson
There's a good chance the Seminoles don't even make the NCAA Tournament in 2018 if they lose this game. The seed would have certainly been different at the very least. They trailed by as many as 17 before storming back to win in overtime.
Forrest tied it in the final seconds with one of his trademark runners and then gave the Seminoles the lead with this incredible, spinning, whirling drive into the lane with a minute left.
"That's Marcquise Reed guarding me," Forrest said. "He goes for the steal and you just think change-of-direction really. And just going back to workouts, it's just instinctive. You do it so many times. You go through a workout and maybe you have your trainer cut you off a couple of times. You have to change direction. So really, that was more instinctive than anything. The spin move is usually a good thing to use when you're that close to the basket to keep you kind of tight in that space where you can get to the basket.
"So, (Clemson's center) had actually blocked a couple of my shots that game. So I knew he was definitely going to try to come over. And I think (Phil Cofer might be open) because he's behind the defense, and it looked like it could be an easy kind of drop-off. But you also have (Terance Mann's) defender kind of splitting it, so it would have been a tight pass to make. So, you either try to thread the needle or you try to get a shot up on the glass so he can get a tip-in."
The Takeover
March 18, 2018 vs. Xavier
Forrest spearheaded this comeback, too. And it's still one of the most memorable wins of the Leonard Hamilton Era. Trailing No. 1 seed Xavier by 12 points in the second half, Forrest helped lead the charge in the final minutes for a stunning upset win.
He had a pivotal steal and "and-one" layup with a little over four minutes left (6:58 into the video) and then followed that up with another steal that led to a pass to P.J. Savoy for the go-ahead 3-pointer (7:36 in the video) with 1:08 remaining in the game.
"I am (setting him up)" Forrest said of the first steal. "A lot of the times, how I get a lot of my steals is I'll kind of let my guy go up. Because when a guy drives, our principles tell us to come over to help, but at the same time I still see you. And I know that you think you're open, but I'm ready to break on it, and that's kind of what happens here. I give him the space to make it seem like he's open. (The passer) sees the gap right here, and I was coming down to help Ike (Obiagu). And I knew as soon as he pivoted, he was going to try to zip it across. So, it was easy to kind of bait him.
"Terance was kind of slowing down (on the fastbreak), and he was kind of telling me that this guy was coming behind me. So, once I felt him coming behind me I saw (the other defender) kind of move toward Terance a little bit. I guess he was trying to stop a lob or something. But by that point. he had gotten too far back and it was just an easy bucket."
Forrest on the second steal and fastbreak: "I saw Terance take off once I got the ball, so I know I'm going to have either option, really. I know I'll have someone that I can dump it to for a layup or I'll have P.J. for a 3. And you'll see that Terance kind of points to P.J. So, then it was like, 'OK. Here you go, P.J.' Because they had two guys in front of me. They know I'm trying to get to the basket. If 22 had stayed with P.J., I'm going to the basket, obviously.
"So the goal is to make them think I'm going, so I can give P.J. enough time to hit a wide-open shot. As soon as he's in the paint. that's when I get the ball to P.J. ... They did a good job of trying to cut me off getting to the paint. But when you have P.J. and Terance running the lanes, you have to kind of pick your poison."
The Game-Tying Bucket
Nov. 23, 2018 vs. LSU
This game will always best be remembered for Mfiondu Kabengele's game-winning 3 from the corner, which bounced high off the rim before falling through the net. But the current Los Angeles Clipper doesn't even get that chance if not for Forrest.
Trailing by two with 10 seconds left, after LSU just missed a free throw, Forrest got the ball on the run and dribbled between two current NBA players (Tremont Waters and Naz Reid) to tie the game with 2.8 seconds left (:36 into the video).
"Our coaches called the play from the sideline," Forrest said. "I don't think we had too many timeouts left. ... It's just practice and getting reps in, in your personal and individual workouts. Just moves that you work on to get around guys that are bigger and kind of slower. So, just things you can do to get around them and kind of shield them off you so they can't catch up and block the shot. So, that was my mindset.
"If you open yourself up to them, that's when they're at their best. When they can fully extend without making contact. So, that's usually my mindset is to shield off where I can get all the way to the rim. Or stop and take my floater right over the top of them."
The Game-Winner
Nov. 28, 2018 vs. Purdue
The Seminoles were trailing by one in the final seconds. They had two future NBA Draft picks on the court. But, to no one's surprise, they made sure the ball got into Forrest's hands with the game on the line.
And he delivered a go-ahead runner in the lane with 5.2 seconds left. He then stole the ball on Purdue's ensuing possession to secure the win.
"We knew they were switching," Forrest said. "You have the handoff and they switch. He's kind of sitting back, so I take one dribble. I think that's Turk (RaiQuan Gray) trying to seal off the big there, but the defender does a good job of taking away my right hand. So I kind of euro-step through his body, back to the middle where he really has no help. And I drew enough contact to push him back, where it was kind of an easy shot right over him.
"Once you initiate the contact, the ref kind of has to make a decision whether he's going to call a foul. If not, I feel like I gave him enough contact to get my shot off and still have a chance to make it. ... That's something you have to learn. You have to practice it to get good at it. If not, you see a lot of guys pushing off and extending their arm out, so it's definitely something you have to practice at, knowing how to use your shoulders and use your body to where it's not an offensive foul and you can still get your shot off."
The Putback
March 4, 2020 vs. Notre Dame
We wrote extensively about this play earlier in the week right here.
Obviously, there were plenty of other enormous plays from Forrest between the Purdue game and the one at Notre Dame on Wednesday night. Some were huge rebounds, great passes, deflections, steals and contested runners. Literally hundreds of winning plays from the school's all-time winningest player.
But none of them resonated like a certain fastbreak bucket from the Seminoles' last home game. None of them will live on as long as that one ...
The Dunk
Feb. 24, 2020 vs. Louisville
Trent Forrest has hammered home plenty of dunks in his college career. None of them were over the preseason ACC Player of the Year in the final minutes of a comeback win before an all-time great Tucker Center crowd.
This was an all-time great highlight from an all-time great Seminole.
"When M.J. goes to the left side, you see both of their guys shifting. (Jordan Nwora) goes all the way to the left side. In that situation, you have to kind of think (you're dunking it) to try and close the game, to keep the crowd still into it. And I mean, that's kind of how I play.
"When I catch it, I see him (Nwora) out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't think he was going to come as fast as he did. I took my one dribble, and after that it was just try it. If he blocks it, he blocks it. Whatever happens, happens. I can tell he's getting ready to jump. And at that point, my mindset was: Either he's going to block it or I'm going to get fouled or I'm going to be on SportsCenter."
It turned out to be option No. 3.
This Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., for the final time, No. 3 will be suiting up in front of the home crowd at the Tucker Center. And as always, he'll be doing whatever it takes to lead the Seminoles to a victory.
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