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NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking the 7 finalists for 2022 C Dereck Lively

By Tristan Freeman

Dec 25, 2020; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard works the sidelines against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 25, 2020; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Juwan Howard works the sidelines against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
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NCAA Basketball Dereck Lively Leonard Hamilton Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball Dereck Lively Leonard Hamilton Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

6. USC Trojans

Head coach Andy Enfield has quietly been a good developer of big men, a few weeks away from claiming back-to-back top-5 NBA Draft picks from the frontcourt. The first was Onyeka Okongwu and up next is Evan Mobley, the former No. 1 overall prospect in the 2021 recruiting class. The Trojans have a good history of focusing their offense on their bigs and allowing them to flourish, and Lively would be set to do the same if he picked there.

The question will be whether he’s willing to travel across the country and play for a team that doesn’t have a great amount of supporting talent. They’ll still likely be good enough to be an NCAA Tournament team but compared to the top-5 options on paper, there’s a ceiling for what Lively can do with the Trojans.

5. Florida State Seminoles

While they’re not viewed as “blue blood”, the Seminoles success in recent years have put them on the same level as a Duke or North Carolina. It’s now reflected on the recruiting trail, with a top-5 overall class for next season, featuring five-star guards Jalen Warley and Matthew Cleveland.

Florida State also is bringing in a top-60 center prospect in John Butler, along with JUCO transfer Naheem McLeod. Tanor Ngom and Quincy Ballard are also on the roster and could be around for another year as well. And it’s not that Lively isn’t more talented on paper than any of them but that historically, the team goes 11-12 deep, including in the frontcourt. Unless he’s willing to play a max of 20 mpg a night as a freshman, it’ll be hard to see them winning this recruiting battle.

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