4-star 7-1 center John Butler adds to FSU’s No. 2 ranked 2021 recruiting class

Florida State basketball landed another marquee 2021 commitment: John Butler. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Leonard Hamilton has added another 7-foot center to his program.

The 7-foot-1 Butler — from Greenville (S.C.) Christ Church Episcopal — is a 4-star prospect, ranked No. 78 nationally in the 2021 class by 247 Sports.

After narrowing his list of schools down to six, Butler picked Florida State over Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Alabama, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

Butler’s commitment comes about a week after 5-star 2021 shooting guard Matthew Cleveland also pledged to FSU. Those two join Bryce McGowens, a 4-star 2021 wing that committed to FSU over Clemson in February, in what’s now the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in the country.

Florida State is routinely one of the tallest programs in the country; the Seminoles are expected to add two 7-footers to their program in 2021. Naheem McLeod, a 7-foot-3 3-star center prospect that signed with FSU in the 2019 class, enrolled at Florida State last August; however, he “did not meet the NCAA requirements for enrollment,” according to an FSU spokesman in September.

When Butler and McLeod arrive, they’ll meet another 7-foot center: Balsa Koprivica, an underrated interior offensive piece who will be a junior during the 2021-22 season.

In April 2020, though, Jake Weingarten reported that McLeod was enrolled a Chipola College. He will return to Florida State in 2021 after one season on the JUCO level — with three years of eligibility remaining

 

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