For the first time since 2002, someone besides Leonard Hamilton will be leading the Florida State basketball team.
Luke Loucks, a former player under Hamilton, was hired as his successor in March when Hamilton stepped down after 23 seasons leading the Seminoles. His coaching debut comes Nov. 4 against Alcorn State in Tallahassee, Fla.
Loucks was a point guard for the Seminoles from 2008-2012, finishing his career with Florida State’s first-ever ACC championship. He ranks 10th on the Seminoles’ all-time assists leaderboard (391).
This will be Loucks’ first collegiate coaching gig. After a brief professional career, Loucks came up through the NBA coaching ranks, spending the last three years as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings after starting in player development with Golden State.
In his first offseason, he almost entirely flipped the Seminoles’ roster. Only two contributors from last year’s team are back. Otherwise, it’s a brand-new roster largely built from transfer additions.
Drexel transfer Kobe MaGee (14.0 points per game, 43.9% 3-point shooter last season), Clemson transfer Chauncey Wiggins (8.3 ppg, 2.9 rebounds per game) and Jacksonville transfer Robert McCray V (16.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.5 assists per game) are expected to lead the way.
Loucks will have to prove he can find success at this level. Florida State was picked to finish 15th out of 18 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“There’s a lot of unknowns in this building, and I love it,” Loucks said. “To me, it wakes me up and motivates me, and it should motivate (our players) too.”
It’s also a homecoming of sorts for Alcorn State coach Jake Morton, who spent last year as an assistant at Florida State before landing his first head coaching gig.
“(Playing Florida State) is going to be a great challenge for my team,” Morton said at Southwestern Athletic Conference media day. “Coach Luke Loucks, he’s doing a great job with this program.”
The top five scorers from last year’s team are gone. Morton brought in 10 new players in his first offseason. Stony Brook transfer Nick Woodard (5.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg last season) and sophomore Davian Williams (5.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.7 apg) were the team’s player representatives at SWAC Media Days.
The Braves were picked to finish 10th in the SWAC.
