Florida State Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Seminoles

Projected starting lineup

Point Guard – Caleb Mills, Soph.

Caleb Mills joins the Florida State basketball rotation after two seasons with Houston. He averaged 12.8 ppg, 2.5 RPG, and 1.0 apg across 35 appearances (7 starts) from 2019-21 before hitting the transfer portal.

The defensive-minded guard will look to take over things in the Seminoles’ backcourt with bigger competition on the table in ACC basketball. He’s a 6-foot-3 prospect with a ton of promise as a two-way threat and playmaker.

Guard/Wing – RayQuan Evans, Senior 

RayQuans Evans is another big guard at 6-foot-4 that returns with backcourt experience for Florida State basketball. He’ll have more minutes on the horizon with the departures of RaiQuan Gray and M.J. Walker.

Evans averaged 5.1 ppg, 2.0 RPG, and 1.4 apg in 2020-21, starting in 18 of his 24 appearances for the Seminoles. He carries plenty of experience in their system and should be a solid backcourt mate alongside Caleb Mills.

Wing/Forward – Anthony Polite, Senior

Anthony Polite is another returning senior with starting experience in the rotation. He returns as their leading scorer from a season ago after averaging 10.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.4 spg while shooting 43.6 percent from the 3-point arc.

Polite will bring perimeter shooting and another playmaker on the wing for opponents to deal with at 6-foot-6. The Switzerland native should be another name that grows production-wise in the lineup.

Forward – Malik Osborne, Senior

Malik Osborne is another senior returner that made 24 appearances (4 starts) in 2020-21 for Florida State basketball. He averaged 5.9 ppg and 4.5 rpg across 20.3 minutes per contest this past season.

He’ll bring frontcourt toughness and be a veteran presence that should set a tone down low. The Seminoles still play a traditional brand of basketball and having him as a back-to-the-basket threat isn’t a bad way to go.

Center – Naheem McLeod, Junior

Naheem McLeod is a 7-foot-3 big man that joins the rotation out of Chipola College with two years of eligibility left with the Seminoles. He’ll be quite the defensive anchor in the lineup given his size and presence.

McLeod produced 5.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg and 1.5 bpg and knocked down 69.4 percent of his shots in the Chipola College rotation in 2020-21. He’s one of a few 7’0+ footers in the Florida State basketball rotation set to make their mark.