After injury-shortened debut season, 7-4 center Naheem McLeod has big goals for FSU Basketball

Florida State center Naheem McLeod knows he wasn’t high on the scouting reports for many ACC teams early last season. He flew a little under the radar coming out of high school in Philadelphia, and then he didn’t exactly put up big numbers during his one season of junior college.

So when he erupted for double-digits in back-to-back games midway through the 2021-22 season — 10 points and 7 rebounds against Georgia Tech and then 15 points against Virginia Tech — McLeod figured he was ready to announce his arrival.

The next game out against Clemson, however, the 7-foot-4, 255-pound center went down with a broken hand that would cut short his season after 18 games.

It was a devastating blow to the Florida State Seminoles, who already were besieged by injuries, and it was extremely frustrating for McLeod individually. It marked the first time in his basketball career that he had experienced a significant injury, and it came at the worst possible time.

“At that point, I was just coming along in the season,” he said. “So it took a toll on me.”

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McLeod’s spirits were lifted later in the year when the injury-plagued Seminoles snapped a six-game losing streak to win four of their last six games, and he has carried that over to a very productive offseason.

As Florida State continues preseason practice, McLeod is establishing himself as the team’s primary option at center, especially with Brown transfer Jaylan Gainey sidelined by injury. And with the confidence that started to materialize before his injury last season, the talented big man is very optimistic about what the ’22-23 season has in store.

“A lot of guys didn’t know who I was last year,” McLeod said. “So I started to put my name on the platform and just buying in to what the coaches were saying — that I was capable of playing in the ACC. So I just had to prove it to myself and really show myself that I can do it.”

It wasn’t the easiest transition from Chipola College to Florida State. Unlike in high school, where he was his team’s best player, the 7-4 McLeod was somewhat of an afterthought in the guard-oriented junior college game.

He wasn’t a top option on offense, and the Indians primarily played zone on defense. So when he got to FSU, he not only had to get acclimated to playing man-to-man defense again, but he also had to learn how to defend point guards and shooting guards in Leonard Hamilton’s switching scheme.

“I didn’t really have to move,” McLeod said of his role in junior college. “So that was a new experience. And in high school, I did whatever I wanted. I was the go-to the guy.”

Setting effective screens and being able to execute dribble-handoffs were a couple of the first skills McLeod had to master when he arrived, and he credited older players like Malik Osborne and Anthony Polite with helping him get up to speed.

Those veterans have now moved on, but McLeod said other players and FSU’s coaches are still helping him refine his game. The goals this summer were polishing his defensive skills, getting more consistent with his mid-range jump shot, and catching lobs around the rim.

“Everyone is like a brotherhood here,” McLeod said. “So, if one man messes up, then everyone messes up. So they really brought me in through the summer, helped me go over the offense and defense. Made sure I was in the right spots. So I tried to keep my energy high and practice hard.

“Just trying to expand my game and not just be a block-to-block guy and a dunker. Just trying to expand my game.”

FSU fans will get their first chance to see McLeod’s development when the Seminoles play an exhibition next Thursday, Oct. 27, against visiting Newberry College of South Carolina. Then again in the season opener against visiting Stetson on Nov. 7.

But the Seminoles’ coaches and players have already seen what McLeod can do in practice, and they are extremely excited.

“I think his potential is really high,” sophomore guard Matthew Cleveland said. “He’s someone that you look at every day and it’s like, there’s no one else that can do what he does. So we’re just making him more comfortable in everything he does — stepping out now on the perimeter, dribbling and making passes, which he didn’t do much last year — so he’s just getting more comfortable with what he do.”

Florida State’s coaching staff came into this preseason hoping to have both McLeod and Gainey manning the middle. The 6-10 Gainey is not as physically imposing as McLeod, but he was a two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, and he also possesses impressive offensive skills.

But with Gainey out of action and reportedly sidelined for the season, McLeod will have to step up even more. He likely will lead a group of several players who work in the post, including freshmen Cameron Corhen and De’Ante Green, and junior Cam’Ron Fletcher.

Because the Seminoles play “positionless basketball” on offense, with their big men often working on the perimeter, it’s not essential to always have a center in the game. But when opponents try to attack the Florida State defense down low, McLeod knows he will have to improve at protecting the basket.

“I’m still learning,” he said. “Being in the right position. Trying to not let the ball get in the middle.”

With the season opener just over two weeks away, McLeod can’t wait to get back on the court for real games again. It has been eight months since his hand injury, and he remembers vividly that the ‘Noles were in first place in the ACC standings before the roster was rocked by surgeries and broken bones and sprained ankles.

FSU was picked to finish fifth in the ACC during a preseason poll of the media this past week, but McLeod is confident that Hamilton’s Seminoles can do better than that.

“I’m excited man,” he said. “I get to get redemption at the ACC. Hopefully take that No. 1 spot (in the conference) again. And just get Coach Ham that ring. Have him up there with that one finger up just smiling.”

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