The college basketball regular season is coming to an end, which means March is here. However, it also signifies that some programs will begin searching for their next head coach. Several teams have already started their head coaching searches, including Virginia, Indiana, and Florida State.
Miami and Utah were part of that group, but as of Thursday, both programs found their future in Jai Lucas and Alex Jensen. On Friday, Ira Schoffel reported that the Seminoles have zeroed in on their next head coach.
Former Seminole and current Sacramento Kings assistant, Luke Loucks, is now in line to lead the program. Loucks will replace his former coach, Leonard Hamilton, who decided to retire at the end of the season in early February. If anyone knows the Florida State program, it's Loucks, who holds the record for the most games played in the program's history. While he is set to be next head coach, an official deal isn’t expected to be announced until at least Monday.
Loucks has no head coaching experience at any level, he began his coaching career with the Golden State Warriors organization in 2016. At Golden State, he quickly climbed the ranks and was part of the 2017 and 2018 Warriors teams that won NBA Championships.
Loucks is set to take over a program that has missed the NCAA Tournament four straight seasons. During Loucks' time as a player at Florida State, the team made the tournament every year, so he’s used to playing in March. Now, he’ll be focused on coaching in March.
Florida State will be the second team to hire a former player in this year’s coaching cycle. With no head coaching experience, the hire is a risk for the Seminoles, but the potential reward could be significant, especially considering Loucks is only 34 years old.