AJ Swinton, Chandler Jackson injury updates: Leonard Hamilton reveals status for road trip

The Florida State Seminoles have been bitten by the injury bug and now it is likely going to leave them shorthanded for their upcoming road trip. With that, head coach Leonard Hamilton knows his team is going to need to adapt quickly.

Following the Seminoles’ recent win over Georgia Tech, Hamilton shared an update on AJ Swinton and Chandler Jackson, both of whom are now battling injuries.

“We might be a little shorthanded now with AJ and possibly Chandler both being injured going on a two-game road trip,” Leonard Hamilton said. “I don’t know the status of them. I know, probably — I know we won’t have AJ. Chandler has a groin pull and everybody responds differently. So, I can’t tell you how long it’s going to be for him to get back, but it’s been my experience with groins they take a little while for them to get ready.”

AJ Swinton is a freshman for Florida State who has appeared in 17 games, all of which are coming off the bench. In that time, he’s averaging 2.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game. Defensively, he has 0.2 steals and 0.1 blocks per game. He suffered a lower leg injury in the Pitt game and hasn’t played since then. Then, as for Chandler Jackson, he left the Georgia Tech game with his injury. A starter in all 17 games this season, he’s averaging 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. He also has 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.

“So, now we have to reinvent ourselves again. Reinvent our rotation. Like, tonight, [Justin Thomas] played nine straight minutes. He’s not been doing that, so that affects you. It’s going to be important for us to find ways to make adjustments. Injuries are obviously a part of the game and you’ve got to figure out how to adjust,” Hamilton said.

“But overall, I feel like the Clemson game got our attention and I think it’s probably the reason why we right now seem to be playing a little better with a little more energy and a little more focus.”

With the injuries, new players need to step up. That included Justin Thomas who made himself felt rebounding and defensively. He’s a player Hamilton thinks could have been the game’s MVP and serves as an example of how these lineups are going to change.

“No question about it, and I think that’s a great observation,” Hamilton said. “But, here again, we’ve had a pretty good rotation that we were developing and feeling more comfortable with but that’s changed. So, now, it’s very difficult for guys to play seven, eight minutes in a row without getting a break…So, it’s a little challenging but we’ll find a way to make the necessary adjustments and hopefully, we’ll find a way to continue to keep reinventing ourselves because now we’ve become a different team with two players out of your rotation.”

Florida State is getting ready to head to California for a pair of road games against new ACC schools Stanford and Cal. That stretch will begin on January 22nd against the Golden Bears.