NCAA Basketball: Top 25 frontcourts for 2020-21 season

The Seminoles continue to hum along under Head Coach Leonard Hamilton, and it’s unlikely the train begins to slow down anytime soon. Hamilton has been recruiting at a tremendous clip and his on-court successes have not been limited by the personnel signed to his roster.

Florida State has leaned on both its backcourt and frontcourt at times, but the consistent development of its personnel has resulted in players breaking out and exceeding their perceived value amongst NBA scouts.

This year’s team features an edge towards the frontcourt, because of the signing of top-10 player Scottie Barnes. The Montverde product is an extremely versatile chess piece for Hamilton to utilize on the court and his skillset essentially provides Florida State with a very big guard on the interior of the defense.

Barnes has the ability to take the ball from coast to coast, dictate the offense, and operate in any area as a top facilitator. As a high-rate producer in almost every trackable area on the floor, except perimeter shooting, Barnes presence alters the projected frontcourt rotation for next season and eliminates a huge need to rely on true bigs.

That mostly hurts the immediate outlook of traditional posts Balsa Koprivica, Quincy Ballard, and Wyatt Wilkes. Koprivica, also a top-70 recruit from Montverde Academy, was a high-rate scoring threat last season in limited minutes. Despite his efficiency scoring the ball, however, he was not a huge priority within the offense.

His upside is still limited with the presence of Barnes and a stronger usage of guards on the current roster in 2020. Similar outlooks are in store for Wilkes, who also wasn’t utilized much in 2019, and the raw shot-blocker Ballard.

However, Barnes skillset does benefit the play of current breakout candidates Raiquan Gray and Malik Osborne. Gray and Osborne both averaged 6.0 points per game last season and among the top rebounders on the team, but are looking to see more offensive opportunities this season. Barnes’s impact on floor spacing is bound to give both Gray and Osborne easier looks at the rim, but also better perimeter opportunities.

Florida State frankly has an underrated group, despite not expecting to fully utilize the whole stable of options. This year’s team is still incredibly long and will be disruptive throughout the season.