Key Players
These teams both have some very high-ranked Freshman recruits and all of them are going to play key roles for their teams. The Seminoles and Gators have both relied on top-ranked freshmen in the past to win them a lot of games. Last year Florida State had Scottie Barnes, who now plays in the NBA, and Florida had a great class a few seasons ago led by Scotty Lewis who ended up declaring for the draft after last season.
This season there is a new crop of freshmen and the players for Florida State are likely only going to be in Tallahassee for one season, while the players for Florida may stay for a few seasons.
Matthew Cleveland, Jalen Warley, and John Butler are the three highly touted freshmen for Coach Hamilton and all of them are going to play a lot. Cleveland and Warley are two of the highest-ranked recruits in Florida State history and they come to join an already talented backcourt with Houston transfer Caleb Mills and 44% three-point shooter Anthony Polite. The backcourt is going to do much of the heavy lifting for the Seminoles as the year goes on. They have so many matchup problems with their guards.
The frontcourt also has some guys who can score a lot in Malik Osborne and Camron Fletcher. Not only can they score, but they are going to lock down the paint and protect the rim and rebound. In true Coach Hamilton fashion, the Seminoles have four 7-footers and overall have one of the tallest rosters in the country.
The Gators on the other hand are the opposite of the Seminoles, as they don’t have a ton of height. They do have good guards who they are going to get production out of, but most of the dirty work is going to come from the forwards and big men. Collin Castleton and Anthony Duruji are in for a big year. Tyree Appleby the point guard returns and Florida is going to rely on a lot of transfers to pick up the production in the backcourt.
Phlandrous Fleming Jr. comes over from Charleston Southern and was one of the best defensive players in the country. Myreon Jones comes from Penn State and he is going to be the main scoring option for Florida on the offensive end. Kowacie Reeves is a wing who is the prized freshman recruit for Mike White, and he is going to play but what his role is will be determined.