Love this time of year. Love watching practice, Love seeing the individuals develop. And love watching as the individuals become a team.
Here are my thoughts on the eve of the first practice.

Please share yours.

From the quarterbacks heating up to a number of WR/TE standouts, there was a lot to like about FSU's offense at this morning's first preseason practice.

In this story, you'll find extensive observations from the Osceola staff on the offensive side of the ball at this morning's practice.

Hello, Florida State fans! My name is Ryan O'Bleness and I recently took over as a part-time national analyst for Rivals, covering the Northeast. I also cover Michigan State for Spartans Illustrated.

Darius Gray, a four-star offensive guard prospect in the 2026 class with nearly 40 scholarship offers already, will visit FSU this weekend.

I spoke with him to preview the trip:

"Being around great people, having the opportunity to learn new things and just being around a school I have always dreamed of as a child," Gray said when asked what he is looking forward to seeing in Tallahassee.

More here:

Sorry, if I've missed the "Doak" update posts.

FSU sports information:

Anastasios Rozakeas (6-7, 225), who will play for Greece in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket Championship in Finland beginning July 27, 2024, has signed a Grant in Aid to play basketball at Florida State for Head Coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff. He is one of Europe’s top young players who was named to the All-Tournament team at the Greek Rising Stars U18 tournament in 2024, and who led the Greek Olympiacos U18 team to go undefeated and win the 2024 Greek U18 Championship.

Rozakeas is a tall, lengthy player who moves effectively off-ball, navigates through screens and is an extremely good creator. He plays and executes pick and roll plays as well as any young player in Europe.

Rozakeas (Athens, Greece) played for the U18 Olympiacos Piraeus team in the 2024 ADIDAS Next Generation Tournament. He helped lead Olympiacos to a 2-2 record in the tournament. Rozakeas scored 19 points in a 92-65 victory over U18 Paris Basketball, 17 points against U18 Panathinaikos Athens, and 16 points against U18 Juventus.

“Anastasios brings a very mature mindset to our program,” said Hamilton. “He has the ability to play multiple positions – he can bring the ball up the court as well as rebound. He brings a complete skill set to our team – he is a good decision maker, a strong ball handler, can pass and shoot, and is well-schooled in the fundamentals of basketball. He’s going to fit in very well immediately with the players on our roster.”

Rozakeas played in the 2022 U16 Fiba European Championship. He currently plays on the Olympiacos S.F.P. Piraeus team with Americans Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga), Moses Wright (Georgia Tech), Alec Peters (Valparaiso and the Phoenix Suns).

"I can’t wait to put all my passion on the court so I can make Florida State and our fans proud,” said Rozakeas. “The hard work, dedication and discipline that have brought me to FSU will continue to drive my efforts. I am confident that Coach Hamilton and Coach (Stan) Jones will elevate my performance to new heights. I am excited and honored to be a Seminole.”

Rozakeas will have the complete support of his family from around the world when he arrives at Florida State.

“We are delighted and honored that Anastasios has joined the Florida State program.” said his mom, Maria. “Florida State is an institution that will help Anastasios grow academically and athletically. We are confident that he is blessed with an experienced and enthusiastic coaching staff, and we are ready to support him all the way.”

Is FSU staying with the ACC?

Sam Draper

FSU football coach Mike Norvell reflects on Day 1 of camp, Brock Glenn, Cam Riley and more:

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The reality is with the litigation the ACC is going to shaft us every single conference game and even if we overcome that Herbstreit and the CFP will be there to ramrod us again.

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FSU sports information:

The defending national champion Florida State women’s soccer team will play nine regular season home games and 12 games in the state of Florida as part of its 2024 schedule.

“We’re excited for the challenging schedule ahead,” head coach Brian Pensky said. “The conference slate is always a bear, and our non-conference play will give us all we can handle. Add the unique challenge of the U-20 Women’s World Cup in the early portion of the season and it will be a fun challenge.”

The Seminoles, who lifted the national championship trophy for the fourth time, play an exhibition match at home against TCU on Friday, August 9, at 7 p.m. before beginning their title defense on August 15 at South Florida. This marks the earliest start to a season in the program’s 30-year history.

Florida State will host North Florida on Sunday, August 18, at 6 p.m. to begin a five-game homestand. Georgia returns to Tallahassee on August 29 while Rice and Villanova make their debuts at the Seminole Soccer Complex on August 22 and September 1, respectively.

The Seminoles and Gators will meet in Gainesville for the 30th edition of the Sunshine Showdown on September 8. Florida State holds a six game winning streak over Florida and will look to extend its 16-13 lead in the series history. FSU then begins conference play at home against Syracuse before making its first-ever trip to Dallas to take on new conference member SMU.

The Seminoles return home to face Clemson in a rematch of last season’s ACC Tournament Championship where Florida State earned its fourth straight conference title. The defending champions then hit the road for three straight matches facing Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Boston College for their longest away stretch in the season.

FSU concludes the regular season with a three-game homestand against Virginia, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina in late October. Pittsburgh and North Carolina both reached the quarterfinals in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Pittsburgh fell at the hands of the Seminoles in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments last season. The final game of the regular season will see Florida State and Miami clash in Coral Gables on Halloween night before awaiting the results of conference play to decide qualification to the ACC Women’s Soccer Tournament.

The 2024 season features 17 games across three months with four games in August and five games in September before playing seven games in October. The ACC has expanded to 17 women’s soccer members with the additions of California, SMU, and Stanford.

2024 Florida State Soccer Schedule
Date Time Opponent Location
Aug. 9 7 p.m. TCU^ Tallahassee
Aug. 15 7 p.m. at South Florida Tampa, Fla.
Aug. 18 6 p.m. North Florida Tallahassee
Aug. 22 7 p.m. Rice Tallahassee
Aug. 29 7 p.m. Georgia Tallahassee
Sep. 1 12 p.m. Villanova Tallahassee
Sep. 8 2 p.m. at Florida Gainesville, Fla.
Sep. 19 7 p.m. Syracuse* Tallahassee
Sep. 22 2 p.m. at SMU* Dallas, Texas
Sep. 26 7 p.m. Clemson* Tallahassee
Oct. 3 7 p.m. at Wake Forest* Winston-Salem, N.C.
Oct. 6 1 p.m. at Virginia Tech* Blacksburg, Va.
Oct. 12 7 p.m. at Boston College* Newton, Mass.
Oct. 17 7 p.m. Virginia* Tallahassee
Oct. 20 1 p.m. Pittsburgh* Tallahassee
Oct. 25 7 p.m. North Carolina* Tallahassee
Oct. 31 7 p.m. at Miami* Coral Gables, Fla.

Here's my lineup:

QB- DJ
RB - Kam
TB - LT
TE - Thomas
WR - Benson
WR - Williams
LT - Washington
RT - Scott
LG - Ferguson
RG - Leonard
C - Smith

Slot in 3 WR - Moore
Two TE - West

DJ Uiagalelei’s intelligence, work ethic, arm talent and toughness have not been the question in a college career that now makes its third stop in three years at Florida State.

The wild card has been his accuracy. And in the view of one analyst, it’s consistently completing the easy passes.

“I think anybody who's watched him, who's studied him play, you have to ask the question: Has he improved his accuracy enough on what I call the gimme throws?” ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill said in a conversation with the Osceola. “And I use this phrase, ‘Can he make the routine plays routinely?’ And I think that's been the challenge with him.”

I'd expect to get official word on Alier Maluk's possible reclassification today. I'm still very much expecting him to join the 2024 class, but official word on that front is expected soon.

In the neverending news cycle that has been Florida State's future in college athletics, Action Network's Brett McMurphy shared an update this morning that wouldn't appear to be extremely positive for the Seminoles.

In a well-sourced story which talked to quite a few administrators, McMurphy shared some doubt about the Big Ten or the SEC taking on FSU and Clemson as new members in further expansion if the ACC survives. Some included quotes pondered the added value of bringing FSU and Clemson into the conferences, some concerns about FSU as a "disruptive partner" from how it has gone about its lawsuit against the ACC and more.

However, the story admits that if the ACC were to fall apart upon losing FSU and Clemson, that could all change.

“Never say never,” a Big Ten source said. “But the current sentiment is no for Florida State.”

Is this all posturing by the conferences? Possibly. Will anyone publicly state they are interested in adding FSU and Clemson before these schools are officially out of the ACC? No.

But it's an interesting read from McMurphy for sure.

Here’s a notebook from ACC Kickoff which includes Mike Norvell expressing excitement about the potential of FSU’s unproven wide receiver room entering preseason camp and also talking publicly about Omarion Cooper’s return to FSU for the first time.

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I'm thrilled to be on the last day of my summer "honey-do" list and looking forward to the opening of football practices on Wednesday.

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2024 WR prospect Trey Brown has committed to Florida this afternoon. FSU already has two WRs committed to its 2025 class in CJ Wiley and Daylan McCutcheon. Fish and I both put in FutureCast for Brown to commit to Florida earlier this month.

WR Malik Clark will announce his commitment next week and is down to FSU, UNC and South Carolina. South Carolina is thought to be the leader for Clark. FSU is also one of the leaders for WR Kaliq Lockett who will announce which school he will commit to in August. WR Koby Howard will take an official visit to FSU in October.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Day 1 of ACC Kickoff begins on Monday morning, with the defending league champions taking center stage.

Florida State coach Mike Norvell will be joined by defensive end Patrick Payton, defensive tackle Josh Farmer and offensive tackle Darius Washington at the ACC's preseason media event. All three Seminoles are homegrown All-ACC selections in 2023 and are evidence of player development under Norvell and his staff, who have balanced the roster in their vision via high school signings and transfers.

Look for live updates throughout the day in this thread beginning at 10:30 a.m. Norvell will be speaking to a small group of media who cover FSU, followed immediately by the players. We'll have news, notes, videos, transcripts and photos from the day.

We will also update in the thread when Norvell and players make appearances on the ACC Network.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips will also deliver his state of the conference address on Monday at 1 p.m. We'll also have notes from what Phillips said along with analysis after his speech.

Georgia Tech coach Brent Key and SMU coach Rhett Lashlee will also be speaking on Monday along with player representatives in the expanded four-day ACC Kickoff.

The Osceola's Curt Weiler took a look at three storylines ahead of ACC Kickoff.

Curt and Bob Ferrante will also have a wrap-up video from Day 1 of the ACC Kickoff later on Monday.

The Seminoles report for camp on Tuesday and will hold their first practice Wednesday morning.