NCAA Basketball: Analyzing 2021 four-star center John Butler final 6 teams

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Losing two-time All-ACC Defender James Banks certainly hurts but rising senior forward Moses Wright and possibly Georgia transfer center Rodney Howard (if he gets a waiver) will be a good enough frontcourt to help the team get back to the NCAA Tournament. But outside of Howard and incoming three-star big man Saba Gigiberia, there isn’t a great amount of future frontcourt depth for this team.

If Michael Devoe does leave the Yellow Jackets after next season, they’ll be in a rebuilding phase. Adding Butler would be a great pickup for the 2021 class and he’d have no issue getting early playing time. But right now, head coach Josh Pastner’s future still isn’t clear with the program, which may make things difficult for the center to want to commit to.

South Carolina Gamecocks

The announcement of this list was great for the Gamecocks. Not only are they, considered to be frontrunners among the group as the hometown option, but rival Clemson was left out, solidifying them as the team to beat. The pairing of Butler and head coach Frank Martin would be great from a defensive standpoint and he’d be the centerpiece of a productive 2021 class that already includes guards Jacobi Wright and Devin Carter.

South Carolina could absolutely use Butler’s services. The graduation of starting center Maik Kotsar leaves a huge hole in the middle, with no current replacement on the roster. The hope is that 6’11 sophomore Wildens Leveque can be an impact player with more minutes, or else the team will have to use much smaller lineups this upcoming season. That would just be for a year if Butler arrives in 2021-22.