Final Thoughts
To say that Mills is an intriguing player would be an understatement, as he has a lot of qualities that will jump out at you while you are examining his game. Just like in my Mac McClung breakdown several months ago, however, I think that it would wise for me to stay away from any specific statistics/projections for Mills in 2021-22.
Once again, a player can have all of the talent in the world but if they aren’t naturally a good fit in any given program, they probably won’t put up the numbers that many people thought they would. Take Jahvon Quinerly for example, there were probably multiple individuals that predicted that Quinerly would easily average 10-15 points and at least 3 assists in 2018-19 (his freshman season). Those same individuals had to be thoroughly disappointed when Quinerly averaged just 3.2 points and 0.9 assists in year 1.
In 2020-21, the Villanova transfer is finding his footing under Nate Oats at Alabama, as he is averaging 12.5 points per game and 3.4 assists through 13 games (Alabama has played 16 total games but Quinerly has only appeared in 13 of them). Was Quinerly a mediocre player at Villanova who suddenly became a good player at Alabama?
Absolutely not, Quinerly has always been a good basketball player, and his high level of play through 10+ games this season shows that he merely needed a change of scenery so that he could get his collegiate career back on track (and it also shows that Quinerly is a good fit with the Crimson Tide).
Quinerly simply wasn’t going to reach his full potential as a player at Villanova (which was clear as day after Villanova played a considerable amount of games that season), and that is why he was never able to carve out a solid role for himself with the Wildcats. The good news is, Quinerly is quickly making up for lost time which is really pleasant to observe.
Essentially, I am conveying that we should all just see how Mills fares in Leonard Hamilton’s system at Florida State, and track his progress/make observations as time advances (because similar to Quinerly at both Villanova and Alabama, we will be able to definitively say that Mills is either a perfect or awful fit with the Seminoles when he has played several games with them).
And yes, unlike Quinerly, Mills found success right away at his first college, but that does not mean that things will be the same at college #2 (because there are multiple boxes that he needs to check off first).
However, I do know that Mills has all of the tools to be a successful player at Florida State, and if he can tweak certain parts of his game along the way he will give himself the best possible chance of not only having a remarkable 2021-22 season but also an extraordinary career with the Seminoles (if all goes well of course).