It’s been a long time since another face other than Leonard Hamilton paced up and down the court for FSU basketball, but that will be the case on Tuesday night when FSU hosts Alcorn State.
Former player for Leonard Hamilton, Luke Loucks, will officially coach his first college basketball game. FSU played two exhibition games, taking a top 25 Alabama team from last year to the brink and dominating Tallahassee neighbor FAMU.
It’s a team full of new players and playing style. FSU has been up-tempo and shooting nearly half of its field goal attempts from the three-point line. Defensively, they’ll be trapping and looking to pressure to force tons of turnovers for easy baskets.
FSU players to know will be Robert McCray V, Lajae Jones, and Kobe MaGee.
Alcorn State wasn’t a great team in 2024-25, finishing (11-20, 11-7 SWAC) overall. FSU is a heavy betting favorite at -18.5 according to Fanduel, with an over/under 148.5 points total. Those odds imply an 89-60 type win for the Noles.
It's a game FSU should win easily with several guys gaining some needed experience. FSU has a favorable early schedule aside from a trip to Gainesville to take on the rival No. 3 Florida Gators next week. FSU should be well above .500 by the time they enter ACC play on December 30th against the North Carolina Tarheels.
They'll need it, because the ACC did them no favors pitting them against North Carolina and Duke in back-to-back games to open conference play. The North Carolina game will be at the Tucker Center and FSU will travel to Duke.
The Tuesday night game against Alcorn State will start at 7 p.m. ET and will air on the ACCNX channel.