ACC Basketball: Duke, FSU leads early power rankings for 2021-22

ACC Basketball: Duke, FSU leads early power rankings for 2021-22 season

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 06: Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils cuts down the net after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers during the NCAA Men's Final Four Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 6, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Duke defeated Wisconsin 68-63. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

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Florida State guard Anthony Polite ACC Basketball Adam Cairns/IndyStar via USA TODAY Sports /

2. team. 435. . . . Seminoles

2020-21 season record: 18-7 (11-4)

There’s a lot of roster turnover for the Seminoles this offseason, losing their top four players from last season. It was expected that five-star prospect Scottie Barnes and senior MJ Walker would move on but breakout campaigns from both Raiquan Gray and Balsa Koprivica prompted their pro departures as well.

The only returning player that averaged more than six points a game is Anthony Polite, a 6’6 wing that put up 10.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg, on a team-leading 44% three-point shooting clip. There’s always one FSU player that breaks out in a big way and look for the senior Polite to be that go-to offensive option.

Joining him will be Caleb Mills, a double-digit scoring guard from Houston that transferred midway through last season. The 6’3 guard will be one of the facilitators of the offense, along with five-star combo guard freshman Jalen Warley. He’s part of the top-5 incoming recruiting class for the Seminoles, joined by top-30 shooting guard Matthew Cleveland and top-60 big man John Butler Jr.

Two other newcomers that’ll depth are Kentucky transfer forward Cam’Ron Fletcher and JUCO big man Naheem McLeod. With 7’1 big man Tanor Ngom back, Florida State once again will be one of the biggest and tallest teams in basketball next season. This doesn’t even include starting forward RayQuan Evans and Malik Osbourne, two players that had sizable roles last season and will do so again in 2021-22.

As long as the Seminoles point guard situation isn’t a problem, there’s no reason why this team can’t compete for another ACC regular-season title. They have just about everything you can ask for in a program and if any of the talented freshmen breakout early on, the ACC won’t be the only kind of title FSU will be thinking about.