Florida State has a couple of roster developments worth watching, and one of them comes with a dose of bad news for the Seminoles’ recruiting board.
Three-star tight end Connor Winn, an FSU commit, announced Tuesday that he is reopening his recruitment and backing off his pledge to Florida State.
On the field, safety Ashylnd Barker is grinding through an injury that’s more serious than it first sounds. Safeties coach Evan Cooper said Tuesday that Barker is dealing with a broken bone in his arm.
“He’s been trying to battle it out. He’s got a broken bone in his wrist on in his forearm.
So, it is what it is. He’s a warrior.
I need him to play better. I need him to be who I know he is…he’s got to just suck it up and be the guy.”
There was also a little time-travel twist attached to Florida State’s football history note: the last time Virginia came to Tallahassee, Jameis Winston was still in Tallahassee. That one lands with a thud of nostalgia.
Beyond football, FSU’s basketball programs are getting ready for the ACC Tipoff in Charlotte. For the men, Anthony Robinson II and Sebastian Rancik will join Luke Loucks at media day. Loucks is trying to carry momentum from a strong finish in 2025, when the Seminoles won 10 of their last 13 games.
The women will send their own group to Charlotte, too. Solé Williams, Avery Treadwell and head coach Brooke Wyckoff are set for the Oct. 5 event, which will take place in the afternoon session at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown and be televised on the ACC Network.
Wyckoff is coming off a 10-21 season in 2025 and is looking to get Florida State back to the NCAA Tournament. Her group at ACC Tipoff reflects a roster that’s loaded with new faces and a few key returners.
Williams is back as the team’s top scorer from 2025-26 after averaging 15.1 points per game, good for 11th in the ACC. She played in 29 games, started 25, and posted career highs in points, field goals made, rebounds, steals, three-pointers made and free throws made.
Treadwell, a team captain, is entering her fourth year in Tallahassee. As a junior, she gave the Seminoles a spark off the bench and shot 58.2 percent for the season. She also turned in career-best numbers in rebounds, steals, blocks, field goals made and free throws made, and picked up her first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against NC State.
Wyckoff is heading into her fifth straight season and sixth overall at the helm, and she’s doing it with 90 wins on her resume. This year’s roster includes 16 players, highlighted by ESPNW’s No. 12 recruiting class featuring Missy Odom, Morgan Stewart, Asia Lee, Kennedy Loux and Chamiah Francis.
Florida State also added six transfers: Timaya Lewis-Eutsey from Marshall, Jasmine Nivar from Campbell, Savannah Henderson from Georgia, Aga Makuart from Vanderbilt, Joy Egbuna from Alabama and Ice Brady from UConn. Along with Williams and Treadwell, the Seminoles also bring back Tatum Greene, Mari Gerton and Emma Risch.
Florida State’s women will also have a couple of tune-ups before the real thing. The Seminoles host Tampa on Oct. 18 and Palm Beach Atlantic on Oct. 22 in exhibition play, then open the 2026-27 season against Merrimack at 6 p.m. on Nov. 2.
Elsewhere in the program, Inside Seminole Football’s fifth episode is available now on the Seminoles Unconquered app.
Softball coach Lonni Alameda is set to host a panel at the FSU Coaches’ Clinic on October 10, where attendees will hear about the principles and theories of discipline in coaching.
Men’s tennis is also on the move, heading to Orlando for the Bedford Cup against UCF this weekend.
And in baseball news, five Seminoles are playing fall ball in the MLB. Two remain active in the AL Wild Card through today, while Tampa’s Taylor Walls and Kevin Cash and Milwaukee’s Shane Drohan have already locked up first-round byes. The Rays will meet the winner of the Yankees-Red Sox series, and the Brewers will draw the winner of Cubs-Padres.
In Other News...
Mike Norvell's Pressure Just Changed But Florida State Still Has Work Left
Mike Norvells early-season start at Florida State had the spotlight on his job security, but the temperature around his seat has shifted some after a 2-2 opening. USA Todays latest list no longer has Norvell sitting at the top of the coaching-pressure conversation, a notable change for a program that has spent plenty of time under the microscope already. It is a reminder that college footballs coaching carousel can turn quickly, and that reputation is often tied as much to what is happening elsewhere as it is to one teams own results.
For Florida State, though, the larger issue is not whether Norvell has moved down a list. The Seminoles still have work to do on the field, and the seasons next stretch will matter far more than any outside ranking of coaching angst. Around the country, Lincoln Riley at USC is drawing heavy scrutiny and Shane Beamer at South Carolina is facing a rough SEC start, which helps explain how quickly the national pressure gauge can shift. Florida States interest is simpler: keep improving, keep stacking wins, and make sure the story around Norvell is about football again. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State May Already Fear A Costly Coaching Miss
Mike Norvells standing in Tallahassee has become one of the more uneasy storylines around Florida State as the 2026 season has started to expose just how quickly momentum can slip in college football. The Seminoles are dealing with the kind of pressure that comes when expectations collide with uneven results, and it is impossible to ignore the broader conversation around whether the program is positioned to keep pace with the sports top programs.
James Franklins success at Virginia Tech only sharpens that backdrop, especially with the recruiting momentum he has helped build there. For Florida State, the contrast is uncomfortable because it raises the question of how different things might have looked had the Seminoles landed him instead, and whether a coaching change now would only deepen the sense that a costly opportunity already passed by. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Faces Its First ACC Gut Check In Tallahassee
Virginias first true road test of the season lands in a place that should tell the Cavaliers plenty about themselves. The 3-1 start has been steady enough, and a recent home win kept them moving in the right direction, but taking that momentum into Tallahassee for an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup is a different kind of assignment.
Florida State enters at 2-2 after beating Central Arkansas, and both teams bring experienced quarterbacks and running backs into a game that figures to lean on veteran play. Virginia has taken the last two meetings, even though Florida State still owns the edge in the all-time series, which adds a little extra bite to a matchup already carrying early-season implications for both sides. [Read more 🡒]