Luke Loucks used a bold, yet incredibly effective pitch to land Shon Abaev's commitment

With less than a week left before the start of the regular season, the Florida State men's basketball team has begun to buckle down. There is limited time left to get in the proper preparations for the season, particularly after finishing the preseason over the weekend with a win over LSU. Forward Shon Abaev was the star of the show for the Seminoles during the win, but his collegiate career

Coach Luke Loucks has recently been going viral as part of the pitch that he gave to Abaev, which has been viewed as one of the more blunt statements a coach has made to a recruit. Loucks told Abaev that his efficiency from the field was "abysmal," while adding that he felt Abaev only played hard "when the ball goes in the hoop", citing issues the forward had with Cincinnati.

Loucks did not mince words, particularly when it came to speaking to Abaev about his shot selection, but in the end, his vision for the forward and what he can become won the recruit over. Since the more serious parts of his pitch to Abaev went viral, Loucks cleared the air by stating that there was plenty more to the conversation that just what has been made public.

Abaev joined the Seminoles after spending one season with Cincinnati, with whom he signed out of high school as a five-star recruit. Holding onto a serious ranking brings serious expectations, and his lone season with the Bearcats was far from the productive one many expected.

The forward finished the season with 167 total points while shooting 33.5% from the field and 25.7% from three-point range. Abaev began the season fighting for a starting role, making 12 total starts before his playing time slowly disappeared.

Luke Loucks gave Shon Abaev the tough love he needed before committing to Florida State

Some coaches will praise players to death and preach about how the system they are running was made for them. That method works, and for many coaches it has been a standard for a long time, but as Loucks has shown, you cannot always be a player's top cheerleader and expect them to reach their full potential on the court.

Loucks was incredibly blunt with his comments to Abaev while recruiting him to Florida State, but he did not do that to bring the player down. Loucks understands that the truth can be a hard pill to swallow, and often the best way to deal with the truth is by embracing it head-on. The coach wasted no time telling Abaev what was wrong with his game, and it was probably the first time in his career that a coach was ever fully transparent with him.

Loucks' methods are likely not going to bring in every recruit, but with someone like Abaev, who had underachieved at the collegiate level, improving is the top priority, and improvements cannot be made without understanding what is going wrong.

The recipe to turn Abaev into a truly successful player at the collegiate level, and potentially the pros, has always been there in the eyes of Loucks. The coach sees a player who has immense skill, but has been told all of the wrong things since joining the collegiate ranks.

Some college basketball fans might be upset with his wording or his message, but honestly, I have no problem with a coach being realistic with his players. Loucks wants the best version of Abaev possible out on the court, and he cannot get that done by telling the player everything they want to hear consistently.

At some point, someone needs to get real and brutally honest with them, and Loucks is more than willing to be that person.

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