Florida State’s basketball season opens with a familiar name on the other sideline and a lot more buzz around Luke Loucks’ program than there was a year ago.
The Seminoles head to Tampa to face Florida A&M on Monday night, kicking off Loucks’ second season after a first year that finished with real momentum. Florida State stumbled out of the gate, then caught fire late, winning 10 of its final 13 games, nearly knocking off Duke in the ACC Tournament and setting a program record for road ACC wins.
That late surge, plus a much stronger offseason, has pushed expectations up fast. Loucks landed a star-studded recruiting class and a largely proven transfer group, giving Florida State a roster that looks deeper and more dangerous than the one that closed last season.
The matchup itself brings some history with it. Florida State and Florida A&M are meeting in the regular season for the first time since the infamous 1991 on-court brawl.
They did play in the preseason last year, and now they’re back on the same floor again, this time with the game set for around 8:30 p.m. EST at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa and streaming on ESPNU.
Florida A&M enters Year 2 under Charlie Ward, and the Rattlers have reason to feel better about where they’re headed. Ward guided them from a preseason projection of eighth in the SWAC to a third-place finish, and that performance helped lift expectations again this year, with FAMU picked third in the league.
The Rattlers bring back two of their most important pieces in Jaquan Sanders and Antonio Baker Jr. Sanders averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, while Baker posted 9.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Both earned preseason All-SWAC honors, and Baker was also named the preseason conference defensive player of the year.
Florida A&M also adds perimeter help in Chandler Davis, who scored more than 21 points per game at JUCO Hillsborough College in Tampa, and Jaden Kempson, who averaged 10.2 points at Albany last season and should provide a scoring lift off the bench.
The questions come up front. Oregon State transfer Daisean Williford had a double-double in the exhibition against Saint Leo, but he barely played for the Beavers.
He’ll battle Saint Francis transfer Ralph Martino Jr. for the starting forward spot. At center, the Rattlers are still sorting things out.
Joel Mokweza looks like the best bet, while Jakub Lomicka could offer some floor spacing. Florida A&M has size, but not much polish in that group.
Turnovers could decide a lot. Sanders and Baker each averaged around two giveaways per game last season, and Kempson was in that same neighborhood at Albany. That’s a problem against a Florida State team that wants to turn defense into offense.
The Rattlers’ preseason results were mixed. They lost their first exhibition, 59-44, to NAIA Warner University, though several key players sat out as Ward evaluated his bench. They bounced back against Division II Saint Leo, winning 66-63 after erasing a 14-point second-half deficit.
Florida State, meanwhile, looked sharp in televised preseason games against Auburn and LSU. Marcis Ponder made a major impression against Auburn, Shon Abaev stood out against LSU, and Kam Taylor was productive in both games.
A few Seminoles still need to show more, though. Anthony Robinson II has been aggressive as a scorer, but he has not provided the same playmaking presence Rob McCray gave the team last year. Sebastian Rancik, the prized transfer addition, struggled with efficiency in both preseason games and still needs time to settle in.
Depth will be part of the test Monday night. Elisee Assui has drawn praise for his defense and for consistently making the right play off the bench, and Alex Steen’s return for a fifth year of eligibility gives Florida State another useful piece. The Seminoles also want to see more from Martay Barnes, Brandon Bass Jr. and Cooper Schweiger in a game where the starters should not have to carry everything.
The starting lineup gives Florida State a lot of options. Anthony Robinson II, Kam Taylor, Shon Abaev and Sebastian Rancik all can attack off the dribble, which is a noticeable change from last season, and Ponder’s presence inside makes the group even tougher to handle.
Abaev, in particular, has flashed big-time scoring ability - he put up 24 points against LSU - but he also showed the full range of what he can be in the Auburn game. The next step is turning that burst into more consistent playmaking.
The biggest edge in the game may be pressure without chaos. Florida A&M posted a 21.5% turnover rate last season, one of the worst marks in the country, while Florida State forced turnovers at a 19% clip, one of the better rates nationally. The Seminoles should be able to make life difficult for the Rattlers, but they’ll need to do it within the flow of their own defense rather than gambling themselves out of position.
Florida State is a 25.5-point favorite, with the over/under set at 154.5 at DraftKings Sportsbook. Both teams should be better than they were a year ago, but the Seminoles have the clear talent advantage and should be in position to win comfortably.
In Other News...
Florida State Search May Be Telling Fans Something About Deion
Florida States coaching search is starting to sketch out the kind of profile the school may be after, and Deion Sanders appears to be moving off that board. The Seminoles are weighing a high-stakes hire, but the early read is that they want more than name recognition and recruiting buzz when they choose the next leader of the program.
Sanders run at Colorado has brought attention, but it has also come with plenty of questions about roster management and results in conference play. For Florida State, those issues seem to matter as much as the star power, along with the financial side of any potential deal, which suggests the search may be narrowing toward a very different type of candidate. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Just Weighed In On FSU Fans Going After Mike Norvell
Florida States rough season has already put Mike Norvell under a harsh spotlight, and the frustration around the program spilled into the air above Doak Campbell Stadium when a banner calling for his firing flew overhead. The moment drew attention beyond Tallahassee, adding another layer to a season that has already featured plenty of noise around the Seminoles and the direction of the program.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney weighed in afterward, saying the scene was an embarrassment and that it crossed a line by turning football criticism into something more personal. He said losing games should not lead to attacks on a coach and his family, a reminder that the pressure around Florida State has become as much about the temperature of the conversation as it is about what happens on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Clemsons Florida State Win Suddenly Looks Bigger Than Fans Realized
Florida States coaching change landed with the kind of force that makes an already familiar result look different in hindsight. The Seminoles announced the firing of Mike Norvell after his seventh season, ending a run that included a 41-39 record in Tallahassee and followed the success he built earlier at Memphis. It is the latest reset for a program still trying to find steadier footing after years of uneven results.
Rick Stockstill has been elevated to guide the team through the transition, giving Florida State a short-term bridge while the bigger questions settle in around the program. The move also puts fresh weight on recent results, including a home loss to Clemson that now sits inside a much larger story about where the Seminoles go next and how quickly they can move forward from another coaching change. [Read more 🡒]