Florida State Basketball: Roster depth tested once again in the offseason
The suspension of a rotation player from last season now brings questions for Florida State Basketball as to how its backcourt will look for 2023-24.
Last season was certainly one to forget for Florida State Basketball, finishing with a dismal 9-23 record and 12th in the ACC standings. There were a number of faults to the disaster but one main reason why the Seminoles struggled was due to the injuries/suspensions in the frontcourt.
The team went into last season without Brown transfer Jaylan Gainey and Baba Miller, who the NCAA sat down for the first 16 games. And forward Cam’Ron Fletcher had a strong start before suffering his own season-ending injury. The good news is that all three are set to return for the 2023-24 campaign.
The problem now is the backcourt, which had already lost three key pieces to the transfer portal this offseason in Caleb Mills, Jeremiah Bembry, and wing Mathew Cleveland. They did land two transfers in Primo Spears and Josh Nickelberry, the 6th Man of the Year at La Salle last season.
The concern is Spears, who is a two-time transfer from Duquesne and Georgetown and needs a waiver to play next season. And that’s questionable at best. And now, the Seminoles are currently without Chandler Jackson, who has been reportedly suspended indefinitely. He averaged 3.6 ppg and 1.3 apg as a freshman guard off the bench and had a good chance at getting a large role in the rotation next season.
If Jackson ultimately doesn’t come back and Spears doesn’t get a waiver, Florida State Basketball will be down to Darin Green, Nickelberry, and Jalen Warley, a point guard that doesn’t score much at all. And if Spears isn’t able to go, scoring overall would be a massive question on this roster for next season.
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It’s ironic because Florida State Basketball has been known for having elite depth in the past. Yet with the transfer portal limiting how many impact players they can have and the recent bad luck, the Seminoles are lacking some depth. We’ll see what happens with both Jackson and Spears but if they aren’t available for next season, it could be another rough year for the program.