FSU Basketball: Noles ranked No. 18 in Power 36 rankings for 2018
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU basketball has a solid nucleus coming back for its 2018 season and expectations are high.
FSU basketball started the season strong in 2017, nearly going undefeated in non-conference play before finishing in the middle of the ACC gauntlet.
The Noles finished the season (23-12, 9-9 ACC) but had seven losses by six points or less.
FSU lost senior Braian Angola who was third on the team in scoring, and also lost CJ Walker and Ike Obiagu due to transferring from the program.
However, the Noles got excellent news a week ago when leading scorer Phil Cofer was granted another year due to medical hardship.
That along with the talent and cohesiveness on the roster led NCAA.com correspondent Andy Katz to put the Noles at No. 18 in his first edition of Power 36 rankings for 2018.
18. Florida State: The Seminoles were one of the surprise Elite Eight teams and it had a lot to do with their defense, length and ability to stay together. None of that should change. Terance Mann could have a banner season and should be in contention for ACC player of the year. https://t.co/54QkjPXCMb
— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops) June 4, 2018
Thoughts
Katz putting the Noles at No. 18 isn’t a reach by any means if they can play together as a unit like they did in the NCAA Tournament.
They return its two top scorers in Cofer and Terrance Mann who both averaged nearly 13 points per game.
Trent Forrest will be going into his junior year and has improved a great deal over the past two seasons.
However, the key to FSU’s success in the NCAA Tournament was its effort on defense. The ability to shut teams down over spurts and create opportunities to get in transition to score.
FSU also needs to improve its free throw shooting and three-point shooting or at least take less three’s per game if they aren’t hitting at a high percentage.
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If they can do these things consistently, they will make the NCAA Tournament again and have chance to make another deep run in 2019.