Florida State basketball and Luke Loucks probably have more momentum surrounding the program than over the past five years combined. A strong finish to Loucks’ first season in Tallahassee, combined with a talented transfer portal class, and a top-10 high school recruiting class, has fan expectations going through the roof.
Some college basketball analysts' expectations have started to rise, but many questions remain surrounding the Florida State basketball program. Florida State lost most of the nucleus that helped the second-half surge of last season, and will have a ton of new faces leading the program in Luke's second year at the helm.
Proud of our seniors (and our entire team) for the work they did in the classroom this year. One of the highest GPAs in history of @FSUHoops.
— Luke Loucks (@lukeloucks) May 2, 2026
Disciplined on and off the court. Go Noles! https://t.co/Y3ATE5o6fa
Despite the influx of talent to Tallahassee, Florida State is nowhere to be found on the latest post-portal top-25 from FOX Sports.
The excitement surrounding Florida State basketball is a breath of fresh air with fans feeling jaded towards the football program.
Teams like Ohio State, Miami, Indiana, USC, and Louisville appear on the post-portal top-25 after not having a spot before the transfer portal opened. Florida State is nowhere to be found on that list, despite the buzz around the program, which shows there’s a ton of work to do.
Indeed, Florida State will have a more talented team in year two, but it’ll probably take a while for all of the new faces to figure out their roles and gel together as a team. FSU will likely have several inexperienced players playing minutes, too. I can see it taking a while for this new roster to play as well as the coaching staff would like, but I don’t expect it to take as long as the roster last season.
While FSU isn’t listed in any top-25 rankings currently, I wouldn’t be shocked to see that change towards the end of next season. The coaching staff has a year of experience together and more talent to develop. They also have proof of concept to point to with these new players. All three components should lead to quicker success in year two. Â
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