Florida State Basketball: Analysis of Canadian transfer pickup Tanor Ngom

How does Ngom’s presence improve Florida State’s season outlook?

After the departure of platoon big men Mfiondu Kabengele and Christ Koumadje two seasons ago, coach Leonard Hamilton and the Seminoles had an entirely different rotation down low last year. In to replace the departures were Ole Miss grad transfer Dominik Olejniczak and 4-star recruit Balsa Koprivica. As it turned out, neither were overly effective and certainly didn’t replace the numbers that Kabengele and Komadje produced the season prior. Combined, they only averaged 8.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 0.4 BPG.

With Olejniczak’s limited offensive game and Koprivica’s inexperience, coach Hamilton went small for a majority of the season, something he hasn’t had to do often over the recent run of success for the Seminoles. With the addition of Ngom, coach Hamilton may be able to go back to his preference of a long, rim-protecting big man anchoring the middle of the floor.

As an early projection, it seems like the now-sophomore Koprivica and Ngom will split center duties, along with raw 3-star recruit Quincy Ballard. If he chooses, Hamilton can also trot out combo-forwards Raiquan Gray and prized recruit Scottie Barnes at the 5 in spot minutes.

As with many other iterations of Florida State rosters, this team will be poised to out-run teams and dominate them on pure athletic ability. If this is the route the team takes, they will be tempted to play small a fair bit of time. However, when coach Hamilton is looking for size, Ngom is potentially a better fit in this scheme than Koprivica. His long strides and fluid athleticism won’t slow the team down offensively, and his extreme length will allow him to play back and protect the rim, allowing the Seminoles’ plethora of perimeter defenders to wreak havoc on ball handlers.

Offensively, Ngom certainly won’t be asked to create much offense but should be due for a few touches per game, especially if he continues to improve his perimeter jumper. Essentially, he could play a similar role to senior season Koumadje, who is of very similar build. Add in the fact that Ngom has a much better touch from the line, allowing him to play late in a close game, and his addition could be extremely advantageous for Florida State this season.