FSU Basketball 2021-22 Season Preview: Projected Depth Chart

Who will make up the Seminoles' starting five?

Practices are officially underway in Tallahassee, which means we’re just under six weeks away from basketball season; rejoice! While projecting a depth chart may be a somewhat mundane task, given how many lineups and rotations Florida State will use throughout the season and how positionless the 'Noles want to be, it does give a little bit of a projection for the season. As Leonard Hamilton has said before, it’s not about who starts the game for FSU, it’s more about who closes the game for them. Those will be the players that the staff trusts most.

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As with any depth chart, it is subject to change depending on injuries, opponent, opportunity, practice, etc. This will be mainly an expectation of what I think the first game starters will be. Coach Hamilton usually starts guys with experience in the system, and only starts freshmen if there really is no other option. Even last season, when Scottie Barnes went down with a minor ankle injury, Hamilton moved RayQuan Evans to the starting role and stuck with it for the rest of the season. He prefers experience, something that will be a theme in this projected depth chart.

For my thoughts on the roster, here are links to roster breakdowns:

GUARDS 

WINGS 

BIGS 

Starters

G) RayQuan Evans

G) Caleb Mills

G) Anthony Polite

F) Malik Osborne

C) Tanor Ngom

Caleb Mills only started 7 games in his 35 total games in Houston, but led the Cougars in scoring as a freshman. I don’t see him transferring to come off of the bench again, especially for a lineup that doesn’t feature a ton of scoring on paper.

Polite is the most no-doubt selection here. He’s started 24 games in his career and is a senior. Osborne is definitely starting somewhere too, I’d think. With the lack of depth at the 4, I think he slots there.

Evans started 18 games last year and had a lot of ups and downs, and he has serious competition from Jalen Warley. I just don’t see Evans losing the starting spot, especially early in the season.

Ngom is the one I’m most 50/50 on. It’s either him or Wyatt Wilkes starting at the 4 and Osborne sliding to the 5. I think Hamilton will prefer starting a bigger center in most games and adjust from there, much like a lot of games in the 2019-20 season.

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Second Unit

G) Jalen Warley

G) Cam’Ron Fletcher

G) Matthew Cleveland

F) Wyatt Wilkes

The nine guys that make up the starters and second unit are going to be the ones Florida State rotates in and out most often and be the more reliable options. Warley and Cleveland will bring great energy off the bench, Wilkes will provide shooting, and Fletcher can come in and play superb defense whenever Polite needs a break.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if FSU elevates Warley to the starting lineup at some point in the season; it really just depends on how fast he can translate to college skill and speed. Cleveland is extremely talented, but with Polite ahead of him, almost zero chance he starts. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run some at the 4 in some lineups, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Reserves

G) Justin Lindner

F) John Butler

C) Naheem McLeod

C) Quincy Ballard

I’m not exactly sure what kind of role Butler will have this season. The talent is apparent, but he desperately needs to add weight. And it’s not like a Jonathan Isaac situation where his all-around skill set makes him an extremely important player. I could see him playing 5 minutes per game, and I could see him playing 15 minutes per game; we’ll see.

Ballard and McLeod will probably each play 8-10 minutes per game, with Ngom starting and Osborne getting plenty of backup 5 minutes as well. Lindner hasn’t seen much playing time in his career, and I’m not sure being on scholarship changes much of that.

Closing/“Best” Lineup

G) RayQuan Evans/Jalen Warley

G) Caleb Mills

G) Anthony Polite

G) Wyatt Wilkes/Matthew Cleveland

F) Malik Osborne

“Best” is in quotations because it’s just a theory that I would love to see play out. I’m not sure we will see it much, if at all, but a man can dream.

I’m not sure Cleveland has the size to play the 4 against some teams (UNC, Duke), but against most, this would be an extremely fun lineup. Or even putting Mills at the 1 and Fletcher at the 2 if his shot becomes reliable enough, would be a rowdy bunch. This lineup would wreak havoc on defense, and any lineup with Mills, Polite, and Cleveland gives you three reliable scoring options.

We’ve seen Coach Hamilton roll with the hot hand in crunch time, but he also relies on a lot of experience, which is why I went with Wilkes in the closing lineup. Until we see them roll out in a game and see how each guy plays off of each other, we won’t know for sure.

Next week, we’ll focus on strengths, weaknesses, and question marks heading into the season. 

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