NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
20. Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles lost not only three NBA Draft picks (one including top-5 pick Scottie Barnes) this offseason but also a four-year starter in MJ Walker from the roster. But head coach Leonard Hamilton has always been able to bring in as much depth as possible to run 11-12 man rotations and it was expected that this season would be the same.
But against the top four opponents they’ve played, Florida State has lost all of them, including recently against Syracuse and South Carolina. And while they may have depth in terms of bodies, they lack high-end talent at the top. Only Caleb Mills and Malik Osborne are averaging over double figures, with Mills leading the way at 12.7 ppg.
Osborne is the only real offensive threat in the frontcourt, a sharp contrast to last season. Players such as Cam’Ron Flecther, Tanor Ngom, and Naheem McLeod don’t provide much production outside of five fouls, while 6’10 freshman John Butler Jr. is still incredibly raw. And outside of Matthew Cleveland (9.2 ppg), the rest of the freshmen class has had a rough go of it.
The Seminoles’ best passer on the team has been senior Anthony Polite (3.2 apg) but the offense overall has been in danger of going on long droughts. The lack of true playmakers and ability to get easy buckets has been exploited by opposing teams and Mills isn’t good enough to take over on his own. Unless guys such as Butler and Cleveland don’t take major leaps, FSU may be in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament.