Florida State Seminoles
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #11
Conference Rank: #2 ACC
While conference foes like Duke and North Carolina struggled last season, Florida State continued to quietly put their stamp on the ACC. Coach Leonard Hamilton has turned the Seminoles into a consistent contender and finished second in the conference standings last season after winning the league in 2019-2020. Now FSU has a little reloading to do heading into 2021-2022, but behind another great recruiting class and a couple talented transfers, the Seminoles are not going anywhere.
2020-21 Record: 18-7, 11-4
2020-21 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Leonard Hamilton
Coach Record: 399-228 at Florida State, 599-438 overall
Key Departed Players:
M.J. Walker, Guard, 12.2 ppg
RaiQuan Gray, Forward, 11.9 ppg
Scottie Barnes, Guard, 10.3 ppg
Balsa Koprivica, Center, 9.1 ppg
Sardaar Calhoun, Guard, 5.3 ppg
Nathanael Jack, Guard, 3.6 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Anthony Polite, Senior, Guard, 10.1 ppg
Malik Osborne, Senior, Forward, 5.9 ppg
RayQuan Evans, Senior, Guard, 5.1 ppg
Wyatt Wilkes, Senior, Guard, 3.9 ppg
Tanor Ngom, Senior, Center, 2.4 ppg
Quincy Ballard, Sophomore, Center, 1.2 ppg
Key New Players:
Michael Brown, Freshman, Forward
John Butler, Freshman, Forward
Matthew Cleveland, Freshman, Guard
Cam’Ron Fletcher, Sophomore, Guard, Transfer from Kentucky
John Horner, Freshman, Forward
Naheem McLeod, Junior, Center, JC Transfer
Caleb Mills, Sophomore, Guard, Transfer from Houston
Isaac Spainhour, RS Freshman, Guard
Max Thorpe, RS Freshman, Guard
Barrett Waldrop, Freshman, Guard/Forward
Jalen Warley, Freshman, Guard
Projection:
Anthony Polite is the team’s top returning scorer at 10.1 points per game. He is a smart 6-6 wing who can knock down shots and lead the team in transition. RayQuan Evans is another steady senior. He will not put up big numbers, but Evans is a dependable defender. Malik Osborne is an experienced senior who was a starter for the Seminoles two years ago before taking on a reserve role last season. Whether he is starting or not, Osborne will see plenty of minutes. Tanor Ngom, another senior, will see more minutes at the five spot. The 7-2 center saw sparse playing time last season, but will be ready for more. Of course, Coach Hamilton has a couple other seven-footers on the roster too. Incoming freshman John Butler is a four-star recruit and stands 7-1 and Naheem McLeod, the tallest of the tall at 7-4, was one of the top junior college transfers in this class. If those three can earn quality minutes, this will be a classic FSU team with a great defense that starts in the paint. The backcourt will rely more on the newcomers. Caleb Mills comes from Houston where he averaged 9.8 points last season and Cam’Ron Fletcher spent one relatively uneventful campaign at Kentucky, but he is full of potential. Matthew Cleveland and Jalen Warley are the top recruits in this impressive class and both could be starting from day one. There is a lot of young talent on this team and that may pay off more in a year or two, but for now this is still a team that has plenty of leadership from their returning seniors and, with that promising young talent alongside of them, Florida State will be competing for another ACC title right now.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 77.2 (46th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 69.2 (138, 5)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.4 (33, 3)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.7 (17, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.7 (129, 9)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.6 (23, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 74.1 (67, 5)
Rebound Margin: 3.7 (63, 4)
Assists Per Game: 14.5 (82, 7)
Turnovers Per Game: 14.4 (253, 14)
Madness 2022 NBA Draft Rankings:
#14 Matthew Cleveland
Madness 2021 Men’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#20 Matthew Cleveland
#42 Jalen Warley
#67 John Butler
