Florida State Basketball Recruiting: The Rundown

In the ACC, the news surrounding recruits tends to either be basketball or football related, depending on the school. Florida State falls into the latter, with football being the number one newsmaker in the Sunshine State, but let’s try to offer some balance by taking a quick look into what’s been going on in Seminole hoop land:

Breakdown Point 1: it seems almost unnoticed that FSU really is in the mix for Derrick Favors (PF, 6’10”, 2009), even though UNC and Florida have been eliminated by all reports. Favors seems more and more likely to stay near his native Georgia, although Georgia Tech certainly would seem like the team to beat at this point.

Breakdown Point 2: while GT, UNC, Duke and Virginia Tech have been signing players from the class of 2009, FSU has been unfortunately was on the outside looking in as Glen Rice, Jr. (SG/SF, 6’4″, 2009) committed to the Yellow Jackets and has no official commitments reported at this time.

Breakdown Point 3: FSU is reportedly in the mix for west coast guard Michael Snaer, but he is getting recruited hard by UCLA and gets a lot more press on that side of the country.

Breakdown Point 4: Probably the highest rated player (besides Favors) where FSU legitimately has a shot is Terrence Shannon (PF, 6’7″, 2009), a skilled but somewhat underrated big forward who has not reportedly narrowed his list, and plays AAU ball with Favors. Shannon plays very hard, consistently, and would be an excellent get if FSU could convince him to commit. However, Shannon also has offers from Georgia and Georgia Tech, and once again, FSU is going head to head with GT.

Breakdown Point 5: Despite the fact that several guards are on the radar for FSU, the next most likely prospect they have a real shot at might be Torin Walker(C, 6’10” 2009), another Georgia player who will have to decide between football schools in the SEC or the ACC on his basketball future. Walker is a pure center who will be able to bang in the paint, after he gets some experience. Probably the kind of player who really contributes his junior and senior years.

So, in short, FSU doesn’t really have any locks or even much attention at this point, but we must remember that FSU brings in a big 2008 class and probably hopes they don’t need to load up in the class of 2009. This strategy might work if they can land a big time prospect like Favors to come in next year, but it looks like the Seminoles are hoping the newest players just arriving on campus will be enough for now.