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Published Dec 9, 2022
Seminoles pivot after losing Fletcher, turn to freshmen Corhen, Green
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Bob Ferrante  •  TheOsceola
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Florida State has already been playing smaller rotations. But with the season-ending injury of Cam’Ron Fletcher, the Seminoles will be forced to go smaller while developing a pair of freshmen big men.

Fletcher’s loss is a massive one for FSU (1-9), which is already reeling without transfer forward Jaylan Gainey (out for the season) and freshman forward Baba Miller (suspended by NCAA until Jan. 11 game at Wake Forest). Now Fletcher needs surgery on his right knee following an injury at Virginia, with FSU losing its top rebounder (7.5 per game) as well as a productive scorer and high-energy defender.

“We are trying to adjust to doing things a little different now that we are without Cam Fletcher, who has probably been one of our most active guys on the boards and one of our most energetic guys,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We are a lot smaller without Gainey, Baba and Cam now. We have become more perimeter-orientated. That's pretty much who we are. We’re trying to get our inside game going a little better.”

The Seminoles showed progress in their last two games, although lapses in each allowed No. 3 Purdue and No. 5 Virginia to pull away. FSU now plays another struggling ACC team in Louisville (0-8) on Saturday (1 p.m. on ACC Network). Louisville has suffered double-digit losses to Miami, Maryland, Cincinnati, Arkansas and Texas Tech. The Cardinals are led by guard El Ellis, who averages 15.6 points per game and played at Tallahassee Community College.

Hamilton knows the Seminoles need to establish more of an inside game. Naheem McLeod is the team’s only true center but he is shooting just 41.9 percent from the floor, and his emotions have gotten the better of him and led to foul trouble.

FSU will also turn to freshmen forwards Cameron Corhen (6.3 points and 2.5 rebounds) and De’Ante Green (28 minutes in six games) for more minutes and production.

“Cam (Corhen) has been a pick-and-pop guy,” Hamilton said. “(He) has to learn how to seal (blocks) and how to execute offensively once he gets the ball in the paint.”

Green’s practices have been limited as he comes back from ACL surgery from January while he was in high school. The coaches are bringing him back slowly but will now need to push him to play more minutes.

“De’Ante has only had about five-six practices," Hamilton said. "He’s still learning and growing in our system. The little things that we’ve been teaching since May, he didn’t have the benefit of being in practice to try and grow and learn and let those things become habit. We had played him more in a perimeter position. We’re probably going to get him a little more minutes inside to see if can he give us a little more quality depth in there so we keep everybody fresh.”

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