Scouting 5-Star FSU Hoops Prospect Moussa Cisse
Five-star 2021 center prospect Moussa Cisse made waves two weeks ago when he announced on Twitter his intentions to reclassify to the 2020 recruiting class. Even after moving up a class, he remains a top-10 prospect. Cisse also announced his top-6 schools, which included Florida State along with the two schools that are thought to be his favorites, LSU and Memphis. He intended to announce his commitment last week, but delayed his decision due to the ongoing civil unrest.
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At 6' 10, 220-pounds Cisse looks like the prototypical Leonard Hamilton center. He is an explosive athlete with an incredible wingspan. He's the type of leaper who has to be careful not to hit his head on the rim or backboard. Cisse also has quite mature physically-- he wouldn't look out of place sitting on an NBA bench as a high school Junior. He has plus coordination for a young big, about on par with Balsa Koprivica but with stronger athleticism.
At this point, Cisse is a stronger prospect on the defensive side of the court than on offense. When allowed to guard space near the basket, he aggressively contests every drive, which is an effective strategy for someone bigger than nearly anyone he faces in high school. He demonstrates good-to-great timing going up for blocks, but can be overaggressive and called for goaltending. Shot-blocking instincts are the most important attribute to look for in a young defender, so this shows his high upside.
In the pick-and-roll game, he can be a touch slow to move his feet, leading to easy looks for the offense. This seems to be due to a lack of discipline and concentration rather than lateral quickness, which is adequate for a center. I won't knock him too much for this, as I was watching an AAU game.
On offense, Cisse looks to be modeling his game as a modern NBA stretch-5. He is mostly a dunker in the post. He can also step out to the perimeter and knock down threes. This skill-set fits into modern, fast-paced offenses that don't want to bog down the tempo with post isolation. He will be a weapon in transition, not only with his ability to finish above the rim but also because he has the ability to lead an open-court fastbreak-- another attribute that Coach Hamilton covets.
Overall, it is easy to see why the FSU coaching staff loves Cisse. He is a prototypical 5 in a modern offense on both sides of the ball. If he came to FSU, he would see plenty of minutes in his freshman season and with proper development will be expected to go pro pretty quickly.
