Florida State star elects to enter 2022 NBA Draft
Following the national championship game on Monday night, the college basketball offseason is officially here. Over the next few weeks, the transfer portal will be filling up while players decide between testing the professional waters, looking for a new home, or returning to their current program.
The Florida State Seminoles are set to have a makeover this offseason with multiple scholarship players moving on. Guard RayQuan Evans, center Tanor Ngom, and guard Justin Lindner all exhausted their eligibility following the 2021-22 season. Reserve big man Quincy Ballard entered the transfer portal after failing to beat out a walk-on weatherman for minutes.
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The futures of guard Caleb Mills, center Naheem McLeod, and forward John Butler are also an unknown right now. Butler has legitimate NBA interest while McLeod and Mills could look to transfer. Things are simply up in the air.
One player whose future has become clearer this week is guard Anthony Polite. After a frustrating campaign that saw a wrist injury force Polite to the sideline for seven games and plagued him in others, he'll be declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft.
There was a possibility that Polite might return to Florida State in 2022. That's now off of the table. He has spent the past five years at the collegiate level and has displayed just about everything he can to NBA scouts. There's not much else that Polite can do in college that will significantly impact his stock for the next level.
The Switzerland native is a legitimate 3 and D prospect, a skill set that is coveted in the modern-day NBA. He only shot 32.1% from deep in 2021-22 due to the wrist injury but Polite is coming off a 2020-21 season where he connected on a career-high 43.6% of his attempts from distance. Polite has averaged at least 1.2 steals per game over the last three years, including a career-best 1.5 steals per game in his final season in Tallahassee.
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For his career, the 6-foot-6 guard appeared in 107 games with 48 starts. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Polite knocked down 105 three-pointers at a 34.9% clip over five years.
If Polite is unable to break into the NBA, he'll have a productive career abroad.
As of now, the only 'super senior' that the Seminoles are still waiting on a decision from is forward Malik Osborne. Like Polite, Osborne was hampered by injuries last season. He was sidelined for the year in late January due to a serious ankle issue. It's honestly admirable that Osborne played on the leg as long as he did.
The former transfer is still rehabbing his ankle. It appears that he's weighing his options between returning to Florida State or trying to forge a professional career.
Stick with NoleGameday for more on Florida State Basketball throughout the offseason.
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