FSU Basketball 2021-22 Season Report Card
Florida State's season ended earlier than they would've expected, and in one of the worst ways possible, getting beat by 39 in their first ACC Tournament game against Syracuse. To say it was less than ideal is an understatement, as it's the first time they've not participated in the NIT or the NCAA Tournament since 2015, a major fall from grace from where this team has been the last few seasons.
WATCH: Florida State unveils newly renovated locker room
Before we look forward and what's to come, let's take a look back and give each player a very broad, overall analysis of their performance this season. The grade they'll be given will be a mix of production, pre-season expectations, in-season development, and injuries will play a small role as well. I'll highlight each player's best and worst games, while also discussing what I'm hearing on each player who has eligibility left. And of course, I'll wrap everything up with a letter grade on the end. We'll be going in order of seniority.
Justin Lindner, 6th Year Senior
Season Stats: 0.5 PPG, 0.9 APG, 0.4 RPG 28.6/50.0/NA
Best Game: Feb 15, Clemson: 3 points, 1 rebound, 2 minutes played
Worst Game: Nov 10, Penn: 0 points, 3 turnovers, 3 blocks (?)
Lindner was given the team's extra scholarship this summer so he could come back for a 6th year in Tallahassee, but still had a pretty similar role to what he's had throughout his career. He ended up playing a little earlier in some games than the staff likely expected, but his knowledge of the game and scouting reports was huge for a young team.
What's Next: Justin will likely get started on his coaching career now, as he was slated to have a job at Missouri College before coming back for his 6th season.
Season Grade: C
Harrison Prieto, 6th Year Senior
Season Stats: 3.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 0.2 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Best Game: Feb 5, Wake Forest: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals
Worst Game: Feb 9, Pittsburgh: 1 point, 3 rebounds, 0-5 FGs, 1-3 FTs
Another player who was given a 6th year, Prieto ended up playing way more than anyone ever thought he would. From his first season on campus (2016/17) through January 11, 2022, Prieto played a total of 107 minutes. From January 15-March 9, he played a total of 227. For a walk-on, that's a lot of minutes. Was he perfect? No. However, there were a couple of games where he was FSU's most consistent player: Wake Forest and at Virginia (KenPom actually named him the MVP of the UVA game). For a walk-on to go out there and do the things he did this season makes Prieto our highest graded player, simply because people were expecting him to maybe play 20 total minutes this season.
Prieto was, by far, FSU's best 3-point shooter on the roster at 45.5%, the next closest was John Butler at 39.3%. He also had the highest offensive rating on the team. He did this as a walk-on, back-up big man. Unreal.
What's Next: "The Weatherman" will continue on his meteorology path, hoping to become a storm chaser.
Season Grade: A
RayQuan Evans, 5th Year Senior
Season Stats: 8.0 PPG, 3.2 APG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG 39.3/33.3/85.5
Best Game: Feb 15, Clemson: 28 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 12/13 FT
Worst Game: Feb 21, at Boston College: 3 points, 0 assists, 5 turnovers
Talk about an up and down season... Evans had plenty of moments of being FSU's savior, and other moments where he looked completely lost. I'm sure his mental space was everywhere. After the loss of his brother in late November, it was a lot for him to be away from his family and play through it all, even having to miss another game in January against Virginia Tech for bereavement. He fought through knee injuries, continued to fight, and gave this team some veteran leadership when it needed it most. Even through it all, he gave us the game-tying shot against Duke, sealing free throws against Miami, and the game-winning and-one against Clemson.
His status among the fanbase has always been hot and cold, but he's always going to have my respect for what he went through this season.
What's Next: Evans is out of eligibility. He could play overseas, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him do like a Pro-Am kind of thing so he can stay close to his family.
Season Grade: B
Tanor Ngom, 5th Year Senior
Season Stats: 5.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.8 BPG 62.7/20.0/79.4
Best Game: Mar 2, Notre Dame: 12 points, 5 rebounds
Worst Game: Feb 5, Wake Forest: 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers
I was this close to making his first game back from injury, a 90 second appearance against Duke, as his worst game, but that probably wouldn't be fair. Though in those 90 seconds he was -5. Ngom dealt with injury over the summer and missed the first couple of games, plays 4 games, then gets sidelined for the next 9 games with a knee injury. The following four games he played a total of 20 minutes as he worked back into shape. So in his extra season, he basically only played 16 games out of a possible 31.
He's certainly a unique player that will be remembered differently for every fan. On one hand, he shot 70.2% on 2-point field goals this season, which is absurd amount for someone. Usually, you only see those types of percentages from guys who are just catching lobs and getting easy dunks, but Ngom was shooting a lot of turnarounds, post hooks, etc., and also had a solid field goal percentage. It also just felt like he never had that big of an impact, as some of his best individual performance came in some of the team's worst games and he took 3s at the worst possible times. I wish he could've stayed healthy, he might've had a much different season.
What's Next: Ngom should absolutely have an overseas career ahead of him.
Season Grade: C+
Anthony Polite, RS-Senior
Season Stats: 9.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 SPG 42.9/32.1/80.0
Best Game: Dec 15, Lipscomb: 25 points, 5 assists, 4 steals
Worst Game: Jan 4, at Wake Forest: 3 points, 5 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 1-8 FG
I think everyone expected more out of Polite this season. After shooting 43.6% on 3.7 3PA per game in 2020-21, the expectation would be for him to pick up right where he left off, but his shooting fell off of a cliff this season. He ended at 32.1%, which feels high if you watched him game to game. From November 24 to January 22, Polite shot just 10/42 (23.8%) from deep, averaging less than a make per game. His defense was still there, and he was a phenomenal rebounder, his scoring just took a step back from where we'd seen it a year ago.
Overall, he was still one of FSU's most important players when healthy, and was finding ways to impact the game, even if his 3-pointer wasn't always falling.
What's Next: Polite could have an extra year of eligibility from the COVID season if he wanted it, but I'm of the belief he won't use it. He's already been in college five years, and is going to have, at least, a very lengthy overseas career. He may just want to go ahead and get started on it, though he hasn't decided yet.
Season Grade: C+
Malik Osborne, RS-Senior
Season Stats: 10.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.0 SPG 41.0/35.9/83.1
Best Game: Nov 10, Penn: 18 points, 13 rebounds, 1 steal
Worst Game: Jan 22, at Miami: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1-10 FG
A season of what-ifs for Malik Osborne. What if his shot at the buzzer goes in against South Carolina? Or even the home game against Syracuse? What if he doesn't hurt his ankle against NC State on January 1? From November 10- January 1, Osborne was averaging 12.5 PPG and 7.2 RPG, while shooting 54.1/50.0/81.3. From January 4-January 26 (the last game he played before being shut down for the season), he averaged just 5.5 PPG and 6.5 RPG, shooting 18.6/10.0/88.2.
He absolutely should've been shut down for the season much earlier for his own health and safety, but he was playing such great basketball before he got hurt. After the injury, he just had no lift on his shot, his verticality was almost non-existent on defending shots and trying to dunk. If he stays healthy the whole season, FSU isn't losing 8 out of 9 games in the middle of conference play.
What's Next: Osborne has an extra year of COVID eligibility if he wants it, but he won't make any decision until he's healthy and done rehabbing, which should be mid-April. He'll look for any NBA workouts and opportunities, but he's not opposed to returning to Tallahassee.
Season Grade: B+
Wyatt Wilkes, RS-Senior
Season Stats: 3.9 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.2 APG 31.0/29.5/33.3
Best Game: Jan 15, at Syracuse: 11 points, 3 assists, 3/6 3PT
Worst Game: Feb 5, Wake Forest: 0 points, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 0/4 FG, 0/3 3PT
Had a hard decision on his worst game between the Wake Forest game and the home game against Syracuse (0 points, 0/5 FG, 0/4 3PT, 1 turnover), but ultimately chose WF because of the 22 minutes played vs 10 minutes against Cuse, and the 8 offensive rating against Wake vs the 9 offensive rating vs Cuse. Both are horrendous games, since an offensive rating of 100 is about average. He's a known shooter who only shot 29.5% on the season. He had as many personal fouls as he did total made 3s (31), and was close on turnovers (27). His passing is a little underrated, but he was forced to play way too much this season due to injury.
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What's Next: Wilkes has an extra year of COVID eligibility if he wants it, though I don't see how either side would benefit with him returning for another season.
Season Grade: D
Naheem McLeod, Junior
Season Stats: 4.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG (1.5 ORBs), 0.4 BPG 68.0/NA/52.0
Best Game: Jan 29, Virginia Tech: 15 points, 7/7 FG
Worst Game: Jan 20, UNF: 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers
Anyone that knows me is well aware that I was not the biggest fan of McLeod heading into the season. Thought he was still very raw and didn't see a way he could produce on this team. For the first part of the season, it was looking like I was right, but by late January, McLeod was really solid. Having 3 DNP-Coach's Decisions before ACC play to having 9 points and 7 rebounds against Duke and 15 points against Virginia Tech... he made massive strides this season.
Then just as he's finding his groove, he breaks his hand at Clemson on February 2 two minutes into the game, and he's out for the season. It really is a shame because he had been playing so well. I think he needs to become a better defensive rebounder and work on his hook shots a little more, but he has such great hands and moves well for someone his size. I'm MUCH more excited about him than I was for him coming into the program, and look forward to seeing what Coach Jones can do with his skillset.
What's Next: McLeod had been cleared to play against Syracuse in the ACC Tournament if they needed him, but that didn't happen just due to the blowout. He'll continue getting healthy and look forward to having a productive offseason and might be a full-time starter next season.
Season Grade: B
Caleb Mills, RS-Sophomore
Season Stats: 12.7 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.5 SPG 43.3/35.3/85.5
Best Game: Jan 8, Louisville: 27 points, 4 rebounds
Worst Game: Mar 9, Syracuse: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2-11 FG
There are few players as fun to watch when they're rolling as Caleb Mills. His bag of tricks is deeper than any player FSU has had in recent history, but he oftentimes relied too much on his natural ability instead of trying to play within the system. The Louisville and NC State games are great examples of what he can be; getting to the basket at will, creating opportunities for others, and being an unreal shot-maker. Then there are games like the ACCT Syracuse game and the Florida game where he's rushing into shots, his shot selection is extremely poor, and he gets overwhelmed by more size.
We all expected him to be an elite scorer, which he was at times. His hands-on defense isn't given enough credit, and he's a better facilitator than many think, but I think we were all left wanting a little bit more. He did miss 5 games with an ankle injury late in ACC play, a stretch where FSU went 3-2.
What's Next: I've learned to never be surprised by anything that happens in college basketball. While I think he stays, I wouldn't be surprised if he went elsewhere, though you really don't see players go to three different schools this early in their careers. I know there were times when the staff didn't love his execution or work ethic, but he's a phenomenally gifted player and scorer. If he can still have his great games while cutting out the bad ones, he could absolutely be an All-ACC player.
Season Grade: B-
Cam'Ron Fletcher, Sophomore
Season Stats: 6.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.9 SPG 47.5/36.2/75.8
Best Game: Feb 12, at UNC: 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals
Worst Game: Feb 12, at UNC: 5 turnovers, beat backdoor 7 times
Best and worst game is mainly a joke in this instance, but at the same time, it helps incapsulate what Fletcher is as a player. He's going to play really hard, but it doesn't always work. By the end of the season, opposing teams were consistently seeking him out in off-ball situations to see if he'd take the bait and he could be beaten backdoor, which often happened. Fletcher also has one of the best hot steps I've ever seen. He covers more ground on that move than anyone I can recall.
He probably should've played more early in the conference season than he did, but this dude had so many injuries this season: some kind of facial fracture in non-conference play, a sprained ankle in late January, and then finally having thumb surgery in March. He's going to be a really good player, he just has to buy into the defensive principles. The sooner he does that, the sooner he's playing major minutes in key moments.
What's Next: He's going to focus on getting healthy, and then he's going to continue working on his jump-shot and playing a more pivotal role next season for this team.
Season Grade: C+
Quincy Ballard, Sophomore
Season Stats: 0.9 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 0.6 BPG 18 games played, 85 total minutes played
Best Game: NA
Worst Game NA
He played 85 total minutes in a season when FSU needed any type of bigs to play with Tanor Ngom missing basically 13 games, Malik Osborne missing 14 games, and Naheem McLeod missing 13 games. There's a reason Prieto was playing so many minutes, and it's because the staff could not trust Ballard at any moment. That's a problem for a team that wants to play as many different people as possible and had times where the entire starting 5 was down with injury.
What's Next: Ballard entered the transfer portal Monday, which was expected. I had tweeted in February that I didn't think he'd be back next year, and that's looking like the case. Interested to see how FSU uses this spot.
Season Grade: F
Jalen Warley, Freshman
Season Stats: 3.7 PPG, 2.5 APG, 1.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG 33.1/30.0/67.5
Best Game: Feb 19, at Duke: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Worst Game: Jan 11, Miami: 0 points, 0/4 FG, 0/2 FT
I wasn't expecting too much from Jalen Warley this season as he transitioned from a really slow offense in high school to FSU's usually faster-paced system, but I think I was still a little disappointed. If the Warley that played in the second Duke game can stretch that out for the majority of the season, FSU has a fantastic player on their hands. There were times where Warley could be anxious, especially at the free throw line, but the pieces are there.
At one point, he was the most upset player on the team with the way the season was going, though towards the end of the season he started playing much better. I still think FSU should bring in a veteran point guard this offseason in the transfer portal (if they don't get a big) to help with the leadership aspects of his game. He also started hitting his 3s at the end of the season, hitting 50% of his shots from deep in February.
What's Next: At one point in the season, I was thinking it was likely he was going to transfer. He wasn't playing well, wasn't getting the most playing time, and just didn't seem happy. Now, I'd be fairly surprised if he wanted to go elsewhere.
Season Grade: C
John Butler, Freshman
Season Stats: 5.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.2 BPG 41.6/39.3/44.0
Best Game: Mar 2, Notre Dame: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks
Worst Game: Feb 21, at Boston College: 3 points, 1/9 FG
Butler's potential is limitless. There are very few players at 7'1" that have the foot speed to pick up full-court pressures, can push the ball up the floor, can make the 3 at a high level, and still defend the rim. He has a very Jaren Jackson-like feel to him, just with an ability to create off of the dribble more, if he can add more weight to him.
Many people don't realize he was playing on an injured ankle for most of ACC play. Anytime he wasn't on the court, he was in a walking boot, which is a huge reason why his efficiency went down at the end of conference play. He really needs to improve his free throw shooting, and needs to be much stronger with the ball on drives, but all of the tools are there.
What's Next: I've been saying since the beginning of the season that the NBA absolutely loves his skillset and thinks he's the best pro prospect on the team. There's a very real chance he takes a very early leap into the pros. I expect him to, at the very least, put his name in and see what he's told. He's already starting to show up on Big Boards for this draft, and is in many 2023 big boards, though from what I've heard, he should be back for his sophomore campaign.
Season Grade: B-
Matthew Cleveland, Freshman
Season Stats: 11.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.2 APG 45.2/17.6/55.5
Best Game: Feb 26, at Virginia: 20 points, 8/14 FG
Worst Game: Jan 26, at Georgia Tech: 5 points, 2/10 FG
There was a stretch in late January/early February where Cleveland really hit a wall. From January 26-Feb 9, a stretch of 5 games, Cleveland shot just 16/65 (24.6%) overall from the floor. He hadn't really been able to hit free throws or 3s all year. Then after that, he becomes a much more efficient scorer, and FSU started winning games because of it. He's going to need to rework his form on his shot this summer, as it's too much stress on the arms, but Cleveland is a gifted player in transition and can be special scoring around the basket. If his jump shot comes around to the point where he can be a 35% 3PT shooter and a 70-75% FT shooter, he's going to be a lottery pick.
In terms of total points scored, Cleveland was the leading scorer on the team by 4 points over Caleb Mills. I didn't always love his shot selection, and he really lost confidence in his shot midway through ACC play. Once he started seeing shots go down, he started being smarter with his shots. He needs to take away the contested mid-range pullups, and learn to catch-and-shoot when he's open, not take a dribble, but he should be a very good player for FSU next season.
What's Next: I'm expecting Cleveland to at least put his name out to scouts to get some feedback from the league, though he should be back for his sophomore campaign in Tallahassee.
Season Grade: B
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