Sharpshooting guard transfer officially signs with the Seminoles
Florida State is retooling its roster for the 2022-23 season after failing to earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2017. At least seven players will not return to the roster for a variety of reasons from tranferring to graduation. That number could bump up to nine depending on what Malik Osborne and John Butler decide to do with their respective futures.
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In the meantime, the coaching staff has been scouring the transfer portal to add experienced talent to a team that is looking to rebound behind the growth of Matthew Cleveland and Jalen Warley. To this point, the Seminoles have brought in two new faces from the portal and that could still increase before the summer.
On Tuesday, Florida State announced that the program had officially signed Brown transfer Jaylan Gainey and UCF transfer Darin Green Jr. The latter committed to the Seminoles after a visit to campus last week.
Following three years at UCF, Green Jr. elected to grad-transfer for his final season of eligibility. He'll spend it in Tallahassee with FSU's coaching staff to build a defensive profile that matches his shooting prowess. Make no mistake about it, the second Green Jr. committed, he became the most lethal shooter to come through the program since PJ Savoy, and he might end up being even better.
The North Carolina native averaged a career-high 13.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game during 2021-22. Even more impressively, he shot 38.5% from distance on 8.7 attempts per contest. To put that volume in perspective, he's MADE 208 triples in just three years, good for fourth in UCF program history. That type of shooting is exactly what Florida State missed throughout last season, as the entire roster went cold on multiple nights.
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At 6-foot-4 with a lengthy wingspan, Green Jr. has underrated defensive potential. Like every player that comes through Florida State, the coaching staff will make him commit to that end of the floor to get his opportunities on offense. He could also wind up being a better than expected distributor due to his ability to draw defenses.
Along with Green Jr. and Gainey, the Seminoles have five high school prospects coming into the fold next season; center Cameron Corhen, forward De'Ante Green, guard Chandler Jackson, guard Jeremiah Bembry, and forward Tom House.
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