According to a report from Jake Weingartern, 5-star shooting guard Bryce McGowens will de-commit from Florida State. McGowens, a 6-foot-5 wing from South Carolina, will re-open his recruitment. FSU will remain in strong consideration for his final choice, though.
247 Sports ranks McGowens as the No. 25 overall prospect in the 2021 class; he was the first commit in the group, back in February, which now ranks as the No. 1 class in the country.
Breaking: Five-star senior Bryce McGowens will de-commit from Florida State and reopen his recruitment, a source told @Stockrisers.
Florida State is still heavily in the mix, he wants to make sure it’s the right decision.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) October 8, 2020
In the months of McGowens committed, FSU landed several other high-profile prospects: 5-star small forward Matthew Cleveland, 5-star combo guard Jalen Warley and 4-star center John Butler, another South Carolina native. Florida State also added back 7-foot-3 center Naheem McLeod, initially a member of FSU’s 2019 class.
Eight months ago, McGowens picked Florida State over Clemson, Pittsburgh, Maryland and several other power programs. Florida State is an excellent basketball program — champions of the ACC, in the midst of a hot streak of sending athletic wings to the NBA.
Florida State assistant coach Steve Smith — who also hails from South Carolina — joined Leonard Hamilton’s illustrious staff prior to the 2019-20 season. Prior to that, Smith was an assistant for several years at Clemson. Smith was Florida State’s lead recruiter for both McGowens and Butler.
There’s a lot of appeal for McGowens to re-commit to Florida State; although with other incoming talents on the wing, another program may be able to offer McGowens more of a featured role. Context is certainly important here, though. FSU plays a deep bench and shares playmaking duties in a fairly egalitarian offense.