Report: Key Seminoles Close to Returning From Injury

The Seminoles will be close to full strength at the start of the 2023-24 season.

Florida State Basketball and Leonard Hamilton have dealt with a number of different injuries over the last couple of seasons, and it looks like they'll be a little closer to being full-strength entering 2023.

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Jaylan Gainey and Cam'Ron Fletcher each tore their ACL last season for Florida State, and according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, they've been cleared for some type of on-court work. 

Florida State's Cam Fletcher (knee) has been cleared for limited contact, per Leonard Hamilton.

Jaylan Gainey (knee) has been cleared for non-contact work.

Fletcher averaged 10.8 PPG and 7.5 RPG in just 10 games last season.

Gainey missed all of last season due to injury.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 16, 2023

Gainey hurt his knee before the season started in preseason training camp, while Fletcher tore his ACL against Virginia in December. Fletcher being cleared for some limited contact work already is pretty incredible considering the time difference between his injury and Gainey's, though I expect both should be good to go around when the season starts on November 10 against Kennesaw State. These are two projected starters for the Seminoles this season, and they'll need all hands on deck if they want to make the turnaround from a disastrous 9-23 season a year ago. 

Coach Hamilton has historically played injuries as safe as possible, though the last couple of years have forced his hand just to get healthy bodies on the floor. De'Ante Green is likely the best example we can look at for how Coach Hamilton deals with ACL recoveries, as Green tore his ACL in the winter of his senior year of high school, and it looked like he'd have to miss most of his freshman season at Florida State. Injuries to other played forced Coach's hand a little bit, and Green made his debut against Florida on November 18 of last season. You could tell it took him a while to get back into game shape, as he only played a little over six minutes per game across 24 games last season, and Coach Hamilton probably would've preferred to keep him on the shelf a little longer. 

Florida State is close to seeing some on-court action, as the first exhibition game against Flagler College is just around the corner on October 29th. They're hoping everybody will be healthy, though I wouldn't be surprised to see Fletcher and Gainey miss that game so as to not take any unnecessary risks before the season starts. 

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