ACC Basketball: Projecting each team’s key player production for 2021-22

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 19: Buddy Boeheim #35 of the Syracuse Orange reacts during the second half against the San Diego State Aztecs in the first round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 19, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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ACC Basketball Malik Osborne Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /

Florida State: RayQuan Evans and Malik Osborne

Decrease in production: RayQuan Evans

Evans started the final 18 games of the season for Florida State and in those games, he averaged 5.2 points per game, a slight increase from the 4.7 per game he averaged while not starting the first six games of the season. The 2021-22 season will see the 6’4 guard return to the bench as the No. 36 freshman in the nation Jalen Warley and Houston transfer Caleb Mills fill the two starting roles in the backcourt.

Keeping in mind, Scottie Barnes was ranked No. 5 on the RSCI and it took just seven games for Evans to replace that freshman, so it is possible head coach Leonard Hamilton goes back to depending on the fifth-year player prior to the season’s end.

Increase in production: Malik Osborne

While Tanor Ngom and No. 66 freshman John Butler will attempt to replace Balsa Koprivica as the Seminole’s resident seven-footer, neither of them have the scoring touch that Koprivica had in order to average almost ten points per game. Malik Osborne will be looked to in order to provide some scoring in the paint and this new responsibility as the starting power forward will be the greatest factor in his six points per game increasing.

Taking away the nine minutes he played while starting versus Miami, the other three games he started he averaged over ten points and six rebounds. With just Cam’ron Fletcher, a 6’7 Kentucky transfer available to back up Osborne, his 10 and six average as a starter could be a regular occurrence in 2021-22.