Florida State looked to be mostly set with its roster for the 2026-27 season, but things always change. They had just one spot remaining after a strong transfer portal cycle, adding Kameron Taylor, Anthony Robinson II, Sebastian Rancik, and Shon Abaev, but there will now be two spots open.
FSU freshman forward Thomas Bassong plans to enter the transfer portal, according to sources, despite announcing on April 8th that he would be returning. Those posts have since been deleted, and Bassong will be exploring his options.
This comes as a major surprise. Bassong is someone who looks like he has NBA upside and is already an elite defender, but the offense needed to come around. He showed some flashes down the stretch of the season, especially with his ability to attack the basket. For the season, he averaged 5.9 PPG and 3.5 RPG, starting 17 games. A big reason for FSU’s late-season turnaround was inserting Bassong in the starting lineup, as his defensive ability was contagious for the rest of the team.
Losing Bassong is a tough blow. While it does open up another roster spot, which I expect FSU to move quickly to fill, Bassong is a talented player with proven experience and can impact winning, and you want to keep homegrown talent. AJ Swinton looks like he’s staying aboard despite an ACL injury suffered in March, so it’s that much more important to have players who are available.
Sources indicate that the two sides couldn’t come to a signed agreement. While they verbally agreed to terms a week and a half ago, nothing was ever put to paper. Now, the two sides couldn’t agree, and Bassong will look for an opportunity elsewhere.
With Bassong’s departure, Florida State now has two openings, and they desperately need frontcourt players. Sebastian Rancik is a 6’11” forward transferring in, but he hasn’t officially signed yet. They do have a 4-star behemoth, Marcis Ponder, signed to be a center, but those are really their only quality frontcourt players right now. Freshman Collin Paul could soak up some power forward minutes, which may actually suit his skills better right now, but they still need more options.
One transfer option would’ve been South Alabama’s Adam Olsen, someone FSU was targeting early in the process. He is a sharpshooter, leading the Sun Belt in three-point percentage at 39.5% on nearly 9 attempts per game at 6’8″, 225 pounds. However, he committed to Auburn on Tuesday evening after a visit.
They would like to add another center, too, but quality bigs have been expensive in this transfer cycle. I could see them exploring an international player or another freshman to add a body down low.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
