FSU basketball: Reaction to ‘Noles 2020-21 AP preseason ranking

FSU basketball will look to pick up where it left off.

FSU basketball has picked up the slack for the football program in the past few years. Leonard Hamilton and the team are coming off their first ACC regular-season conference title with a record of (26-5, 16-4 ACC).

They lost key players Trent Forrest, Devin Vassell, and Patrick Williams, as they will go on to play in the NBA more than likely.

However, Hamilton assembled a solid 2020 recruiting class with five-star power forward Scottie Barnes, transfer shooting guard Sidney Calhoun, and seven-foot center Quincy Ballard.

They’ll return some talent and experience from last year that should help develop the new players arriving in the program.

The departure of those three players above is likely why the Noles check in at No. 21 on the AP preseason rankings below:

Forrest was the only senior, and this team would have been ranked higher if Vassell and Williams were coming back this year. There’s a lot of role players returning with some high-end talent like Scottie Barnes joining the program.

However, there’s still a lot of unknowns about what the team is capable of in 2020-21. Analysts can’t treat this year’s team like it was last year because of that, and hence the lower ranking than expected.

I’d expect this team will start like most Leonard Hamilton teams in the past. They’ll probably lose a couple of games early in the season most people think they’d win while looking on paper.

However, Hamilton’s goal every year is to develop the team and find the right combinations by the time conference play rolls around. I would advise against having crazy expectations because of what last year’s team was able to accomplish.

I think this team has a chance to be very good, but it could take a bit before all the players are comfortable with their roles.