Forward and high school All-American forward Jonathan Isaac is without a question the prize of Florida State’s 2016 basketball recruiting class. Isaac is shooting nearly 60 percent from the field, averaging more than 15 points per game and leading the team in rebounds.
As special as Isaac is however, his stay in Tallahassee will likely be a short one. Most expect that Isaac will join former guard Malik Beasley as the only “one-and-dones” in school-history. There might be an outside chance that Isaac stays two years, but anything beyond that is a pipe dream at this point.
The good news for FSU is that the newest recruiting class to arrive on campus has pieces that could be pillars of the program for the next three years. The two biggest happen to play in the backcourt in C.J. Walker and Trent Forrest.
Unlike current starter Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who was more of a scorer during his first year in the lineup, Walker is more of a true point guard. Still, at 6-1 and 195 pounds, Walker has shown that he can put the ball in the basket.
Highlighted by a 13-point effort against Illinois, Walker has averaged more than eight points per game over the last four games. Walker gets to the basket with relative ease and finishes well for a small guard. With good lateral movement, Walker is already a good on-the-ball defender and should fit nicely into head coach Leonard Hamilton’s long term plans.
Forrest may be the prospect, who ultimately gives FSU the most return on its investment. A 6-5 guard out of Chipley, Forrest can do just about everything.
As a freshman, he’s shooting 58 percent from the field and leads the team, averaging 1.7 steals per game in only 19 minutes. Though his career is only seven games old, Forrest has proven to be a good defender, a good athlete, a good passer, a good ball-handler and a very good finisher around the rim.
Forrest has filled up the box score without yet even showing off his shooting range. By the time Forrest’s career is done, he has the chance to be a prolific scorer and at worst, should average in double-figures.
Though he hasn’t got into ACC play yet, Forrest’s numbers are comparable to the ones that Michael Snaer put up as a freshman. Snaer put up a slightly better scoring average early in his career, but Forrest is currently ahead in every other category.
This isn’t to say that Braian Angola-Rodas, P.J. Savoy or Mfiondu Kabengele won’t go on to have solid careers at FSU. Two or three years from now however, there’s a very good chance that it’s the backcourt combination of Walker and Forrest that opponents put am emphasis on trying to stop.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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