Basketball
It’s official — Florida State basketball has its next head coach. The hire of former player and Sacramento Kings assistant Luke Loucks was announced on Sunday, with the new headman to be introduced during a press conference tomorrow:
“I am incredibly honored and excited for the opportunity to become the head coach for the Florida State men’s basketball team,” Loucks said. “FSU has a rich basketball tradition, and I look forward to building on the legacy of our previous coaches, especially Coach Hamilton. I’d like to thank the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors for providing me with a strong coaching foundation. I’m eager to build our coaching staff with the best and brightest basketball coaches in America. They will have characteristics that support and push me while helping me build and develop a competitive team year after year. We will have a standard that we stick to on and off the court that will help build a championship-level culture. I am privileged to have seen firsthand what winning feels like at Florida State, and I am hungry for more.”
Leonard Hamilton was appropriately honored during his final home game with the Seminoles on Sunday, but there are few tributes that come close to the one that Matt Minnick penned about the Florida State legend:
Even in what many considered the golden age of FSU hoops, the early 90s run-and-fun teams under Pat Kennedy, the Seminoles were unable to truly contend for a conference title. The ‘Noles squad loaded with NBA talent like Sam Cassell, Charlie Ward, Bob Sura, and Rodney Dobard still finished two games back of UNC in the regular season and lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. If that team couldn’t do it, how could anyone ever get FSU to win the Atlantic Coast Conference? Let alone a guy “journeyman” who only coached at basketball wastelands?
So it was, the myth of FSU basketball. A football first, spring football second school that would never be able to cut down the nets against basketball bluebloods like Duke and Carolina.
Hamilton believed otherwise.
From day one on the job he repeated his mantra. He would make Florida State basketball “a program of significance.” People laughed, scoffed, and rolled their eyes. But Hamilton just kept repeating it. And then he did what he always did. He went to work and proved the doubters wrong.
Coach Hamilton talks with Jeff Culhane about Senior Day and how it’s bigger than basketball.
Catch the full conversation—including Ham Day, ACC Tournament, and his retirement on YouTube and Seminoles Unconquered! #ThankYouHam pic.twitter.com/WKtJct7wKn
— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops) March 8, 2025
. Watch Leonard Hamilton as he experiences his legacy video for the first time. Catch the full version on our YouTube channel and the Seminoles Unconquered Streaming app. #ThankYouHam pic.twitter.com/fPDhXlrEsX
— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops) March 9, 2025
After beating SMU to close out the regular season, Florida State will open up ACC Tournament play with a matchup vs. the Syracuse Orange:
Florida State (17-14, 8-12 ACC) enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 11 seed. Syracuse (13-18, 7-13 ACC) enters the tournament as the No. 14 seed. The game will be televised by the ACC Network.
Florida State and Syracuse met once this season with the Seminoles taking a 90-74 victory in Tallahassee.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Seminole freshman Daquan Davis scored 18 points, Taylor Bol Bowen earned his second double-double of the season, and four Seminoles scored in double figures to lead Florida State to the win at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Davis tied a school record for perfection from the free throw line in an ACC game as he made all 10 of his free throws while Bol Bowen totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Seminoles to their first ACC victory of the season.
Florida State faces Syracuse for the second time in their ACC Tournament history on Tuesday. The Orange defeated the Seminoles in the second round of the 2022 ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on March 9, 2022.
The winner of Tuesday’s game between Florida State and Syracuse faces the No. 6 seed SMU on Wednesday, March 12 in the second round of the tournament at approximately 9:30 p.m. The second round game will be televised by ESPN2 or ESPNU.
Tuesday, March 11: First Round
2 p.m. – No. 12 Notre Dame vs. No. 13 Pitt (ACC Network)
4:30 p.m. – No. 10 Virginia Tech vs. No. 15 California (ACC Network)
7 p.m. – No. 11 Florida State vs. No. 14 Syracuse (ACC Network)
Wednesday, March 12: Second Round
Noon – No. 8 Georgia Tech vs. No. 9 Virginia (ESPN)
2:30 p.m. – No. 5 North Carolina vs. Notre Dame-Pitt winner (ESPN)
7 p.m. – No. 7 Stanford vs. Virginia Tech-Cal winner (ESPN2/ESPNU)
9:30 p.m. – No. 6 SMU vs. Florida State-Syracuse winner (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Thursday, March 13: Quarterfinals
Noon – No. 1 Duke vs. Wednesday Noon winner (ESPN/ESPN2)
2:30 p.m. – No. 4 Wake Forest vs. Wednesday 2:30 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)
7 p.m. – No. 2 Louisville vs. Wednesday 7 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)
9:30 p.m. – No. 3 Clemson vs. Wednesday 9:30 p.m. winner (ESPN/ESPN2)
Friday, March 14: Semifinals
7 p.m. – Thursday afternoon winners (ESPN/ESPN2)
9:30 p.m. – Thursday evening winners (ESPN/ESPN2)
Saturday, March 15: Championship
8:30 p.m. – Semifinal winners (ESPN)
Florida State senior Makayla Timpson was named to the 2025 ACC All-Tournament Second Team:
In the quarterfinal matchup against No. 14/14 North Carolina, Timpson swatted eight blocks, tying the ACC record that was set by Stephanie Mavunga of North Carolina in 2015 in the second round against Georgia Tech. Timpson became the 29th player nationally since 2003 to produce eight or more blocks in a conference tournament.
Timpson extended her single season block record to 99. She also led the Noles in scoring with 15 points and eight rebounds.
The No. 22 Seminoles (23-8, 13-5 ACC) fell to the Tar Heels (27-6, 13-5 ACC) 60-56, in a close contest on Friday at the First Horizon Coliseum. Florida State will await NCAA Tournament selection, which will take place on Sunday, March 16.
Recruiting
Class of 2026 Commitments
Football
Baseball
Florida State moved to 15-0 on the season after winning its series against Lipscomb:
At first glance, Florida State baseball (15-0) stayed par for the course this week, rounding out their non-conference slate with a series win over Lipscomb, and handling UNF + Bethune Cookman in the mid-week. Beneath the surface, though, the Seminoles avoided their first trap of the season, and worked around a bout with adversity.
To begin the week, the Noles faced a five-game in six-day stretch, their only such sprint this season, but a difficult one for any team to handle, nonetheless. It became exponentially harder when Jamie Arnold did not pitch on Friday, although Link Jarrett unequivocally stated there are no immediate or long-term concerns. With an upcoming top-ten matchup with Florida on Tuesday and holding one of the last three undefeated records in college baseball, Jarrett’s team banded together and took care of business.
Softball
No. 9 Florida State softball had a tough weekend in the Beaver State, going 2-0 vs. Oregon State but 0-2 vs. Oregon:
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No. 7 Florida State beach volleyball finished 3-1 at the TCU Invitational tournament, beating No. 13 Texas on Friday and No. 12 Florida Atlantic and Boise State on Saturday:
The Seminoles now hold a season record of 11-1. Seniors Makenna Wolfe and Audrey Koenig both reached their 50th career win on Saturday.
The Seminoles started the tournament with a 5-0 victory over Texas in their first meeting in program history. CCSA Pair of the Week Bailey Higgins and Carra Sassack claimed the first point of the duel on court four, winning in straight sets. Makenna Wolfe and Kenzie Hultquist won court five in a tightly contested three set contest. Alexis Durish and Audrey Koenig then won court 18-21, 21-18, 15-12. McKenna Flaherty and Myriah Massey claimed defeated the Longhorns on court four soon before Gella Andrew and Maddie Trusty took court two, completing the sweep.
Florida State came up short against No. 4 TCU, losing 5-0. The Horned Frogs won all courts but two in two sets. The pairs of Andrew and Trusty and Flaherty and Massey forced a third set on courts two and four respectively but ultimately dropped the point.
FSU opened the day with a 3-2 victory over the 12th-ranked Owls. Wolfe and Myriah Massey earned the first point for the Seminoles on court five, winning in straight sets. McKenna Flaherty and Kyleene Filimaua fought in a tight, three-set contest on court four, winning the match 21-18, 18-21, 20-18. Bailey Higgins and Carra Sassack took the Owls to three sets on court three but ultimately lost the point. Gella Andrew and Maddie Trusty then sealed the victory for the Noles on court two, winning in straight sets.
Florida State capped off the weekend with a victory over Boise State. Filimaua and Flaherty struck first for the Noles, winning court four in two sets. Wolfe and Massey won court five soon before Alexis Durish and Koenig took court one. Andrew and Trusty won court two in straight sets. Higgins and Sassack fought hard, but the Broncos took court three in three sets.
The Seminoles will travel to Manhattan Beach, California, next weekend to participate in the East vs. West Tournament. Florida State will play No. 9 Cal on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by No. 15 Hawaii at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, FSU will face No. 1 UCLA at 1:30 p.m. and then end the weekend by playing No. 2 LMU at 4:00 p.m.
Freshman Hayden Schroeder is advancing to the finals of his first-ever NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Auburn with the No. 19/RV Florida State swimming and diving team set to continue competition today:
Schroeder was one of three Seminoles to compete on the first day of the four-day meet to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The men opened on 1-meter springboard and the women are set to begin their events on Monday.
At his first NCAA Zone Championships, Schroeder reached the final and placed 10th overall with a final score of 666.15 points. He entered the finals in 13th place with 317.25 points.
Sophomore Jack Bessire placed 23rd with 288.30 points and freshman Noah Turner finished 26th with 270.80 points.
The top seven finishers on men’s 1-meter advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Schroeder, Bessire and Turner are three of nine Seminoles competing at the four-day Zone Diving Championships.
The meet will continue on Monday, March 10, with the women’s 1-meter at 12 p.m. ET and the men’s 3-meter at 4:45 p.m. ET. Tuesday, March 11 will see the women on 3-meter at 12 p.m. ET and the men concluding their week on platform at 4:30 p.m. ET. The event will wrap up on Wednesday, March 12, with women on platform at 12 p.m. ET.
Florida State men’s tennis fell at No. 9 Stanford 4-0 on Sunday:
The match began with a tight doubles round as all three courts were 3-3 scorelines midway through the round. Stanford won the match on Court 2 before Alex Bulte and Youcef Rihane held firm in the closing stages to record the duo’s first ranked win of the spring on Court 1.
Corey Craig and Azariah Rusher made their doubles debut as a pairing and forced the doubles point tiebreaker at 6-6 before the Cardinal ran to an early lead and earned the opening point of the match.
Stanford opened singles play winning four of the first sets in singles play. Bulte won his first set tiebreaker over the No. 56 player in the nation on Court 3 while Erik Schiessl earned a fourth consecutive set win on Court 4.
The Seminoles forced Stanford into three extra set matches after Joshua Dous-Karpenschif battled back with a 7-5 second frame. The Cardinal won in straight-sets on Courts 1 and 6 before clinching the match with a three-set victory on Court 5.
Florida State will continue its two week road trip with the first of three visits to the Tar Heel State facing No. 6 NC State and No. 1 Wake Forest.
No. 6 Florida State women’s golf is in first place Briars Creek Invitational, holding a nine-shot advantage over Kent State and leading NC State by 11 strokes with All-Americans Lottie Woad and Mirabel Ting are tied for second in the individual standings:
Florida State is looking to extend its current school-record winning streak of three consecutive team championships to four consecutive at the Briars Creek Invitational. The Seminoles have won the team championships at the Landfall Tradition, Collegiate Invitational at the Guadalajara Country Club, and the Moon Invitational in their most three recent tournaments.
The event was originally scheduled to begin on Monday. The start of the first round was moved to Sunday morning with the hope the competing teams could play as many holes as possible before weather disrupted play. The teams completed a full round before rain stopped play prior to the beginning of the second round began. With extreme weather expected on Monday, the second round has been canceled, the final round has been scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Florida State’s Woad (minus five), Ting (minus five), and freshman Sophia Fullbrook (minus one) are all in the top 12 of the individual standings as they all finished round one with under par scores. Alexandra Gazzoli, who is playing as an individual, is in a tie for 17th place and she finished her first round with an even par score of 72.
Florida State finished the first round with a tournament-leading 19 birdies and one eagle (scored by Ting), and is 11 under par as a team.
Woad, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, carded a five-under par score of 67 – a score that included five birdies and 13 holes scored at par. She birdied three holes on the front nine and two on the back nine.
Ting, the No. 3 ranked amateur in the world, also carded a five-under par score of 67. Her score included an eagle and four birdies. Ting birdied four of her final nine holes of the day to pull within one stroke of the lead.
The individual lead is held by Isabella Goyette of Kent State who carded a 6-under par score of 66. She leads the field of 99 golfers after the first round of play.
Fullbrook, who birdied her final three holes of the first round is in a tie for 12th with a 1-under par score of 71. She tied for the team lead with five birdies in the first round.
Each Seminole in the field carded multiple birdies in the first round with Gazzoli earning four, and Kaylah Williams and Layla Pedrique earning two each.
Lottie and Mirabel have been named to the ANNIKA Award Spring Watch List. Watch the Seminoles on their home course at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee at the Florida State Match Up (March 21-23). pic.twitter.com/OSOo3N2JA2
— FSU Golf (@FSUGolf) March 7, 2025
No. 20 Florida State men’s golf will host the annual Seminole Intercollegiate at the Glen Arven Country Club in Thomasville, starting today: