Florida State finds two sweet ways at Sweet 16 to pay tribute to teammate who lost his dad

Florida State senior Phil Cofer wasn’t physically with his team Thursday night when they took on No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Instead, he was back home with family just a week after his dad passed away from a lengthy illness.

Cofer was told the terrible news immediately after FSU’s first-round win over Vermont last week

But he was with them in spirit, as well as an emotional FaceTime call right before the game, and the team found a few great ways to pay tribute to Cofer and his dad, Mike..

First, the team left a spot open for Cofer when they lined up for the national anthem:

Wow. #FSU leaves an open spot in the line for Phil Cofer, who is not with the team tonight after the passing of his father last Thursday. pic.twitter.com/NsVQx0qrYr

— Wayne McGahee III (@WayneMcGaheeIII) March 28, 2019

And then they left a seat on the bench open for Cofer as well.

Empty seat on Florida State bench, ostensibly for Phil Cofer, who is not here after his father passed last week. pic.twitter.com/MxCU1fdU1T

— Greg Bishop (@GregBishopSI) March 28, 2019

CBS sideline reporter, Dana Jacobson, explained other ways they were paying tribute to the Cofers, too:

.@FSUHoops shows support of their teammate Phil Cofer, whose father passed away last week. 👏#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/OU7MceyHPU

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 28, 2019