Florida State

Last January, the Seminoles must have felt pretty good about themselves. They began their season promisingly with a 13-2 record, including an impressive victory on the road against then-No. 22 Georgia Tech. Sophomore center Solomon Alabi was well on his way toward a promising season, putting up 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest. Junior forward Chris Singleton put up equally impressive statistics.

Unfortunately, the season reared its ugly head as Florida State went on to drop eight of its next 16 games. The Seminoles were unable to progress past the first round in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, succumbing to N.C. State and Gonzaga, respectively. Seminole fans couldn’t help the bitter taste of disappointment.

And Alabi’s departure for the NBA has furthered dampened their moods. The next best option at center—junior Xavier Gibson—simply will not measure up to Alabi’s height or strength. As such, during the offseason, Florida State added extra depth under the basket with community college transfer Jon Kreft, who has two years of eligibility remaining. Fellow transfer Bernard James, a power forward, also hopes to add legitimacy to the Seminole’s frontcourt.

However, it is Singleton who will bear the majority of the burden to redeem Florida State’s lost season. Singleton looks to build upon a successful sophomore campaign, where he averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and picked up ACC Defensive Player of the Year. With Alabi gone, he will have to play a larger role in the team’s offense.

To assist Singleton will be a stellar class of freshman. Head coach Leonard Hamilton exerted much effort to obtain a recruiting class that includes five-star shooting guard Ian Miller and four-star power forward Okaro White. These two freshmen will likely see more playing time as Florida State looks to advance its season further than it did last year.