FSU sports information:

No. 13 Florida State Men’s Golf prepares for another visit to the Watersound Invitational on Feb. 19-21 at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club – the program’s fourth consecutive year playing in the tournament.

The Seminoles join another strong field that includes NC State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Penn, Mississippi State, Virginia, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech. Typically, the tournament gets a strong mix of ACC and SEC programs, with Alabama being the tournament host this year.

Shark’s Tooth Golf Club, which was also home to the 2022 ACC Men’s Golf Championship, is a par-72, 7,246-yard golf course. Last season, current senior Frederik Kjettrup won the tournament while FSU finished in third place overall.

Competing for the Seminoles this week are Luke Clanton, Kjettrup, Tyler Weaver, Cole Anderson and Jack Bigham. FSU also has three individuals in Gray Albright, James Tureskis and Michael Mays.

Kjettrup continues leading FSU in scoring average in the 2023-24 year at 68.14. He tied for 14th at the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii in FSU’s spring-opening tournament.

Clanton had the best finish for the Seminoles in Hawaii, tying for eighth. He is second on FSU with a 70.13 scoring average this year.

One round will be played each day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with tee times set to be announced following Sunday’s practice round in the late afternoon.

FSU sports information:

Sophomore All-American Lottie Woad is in a tie for 14th place in the individual standings, and the Florida State women’s golf team is in 14th place after the first round of the 7th Annual Moon Invitational at the Suntree Country Club.

The tournament format was altered from its original schedule which was to begin on Sunday and run for three consecutive days. Because of weather in the area, the event began with 18 holes of play on Saturday, will take a day off for expected rain on Sunday, and continue play with 18 holes on Monday. The final round of 18 holes is expected to be played and the tournament completed on Tuesday.

Auburn is in first place in the team standings with a 6-under par team score of 282. The Tigers have two players in the top three and four players in the top 25 of the individual standings after the first 18 holes of the championship. Auburn leads LSU by one stroke and tournament host Louisville by four strokes. Maisie Filler of Florida is the individual leader after the first round of play with a 6-under par score of 66.

“Today was the first time in my 22 years that the schedule of a tournament was altered this much,” Coach Amy Bond said. “We played a practice round then almost immediately began our first round of play. That was tough. As golfers, we get into routines, and because of situations like this, our routines are altered. It’s something we have been working hard at in the last year, and we’ve gotten better, but we are still trying to figure out the nuances.

“This tournament gives us a great opportunity to be challenged early in the year to continue to adjust to the ever-changing conditions in the sport of golf.”

Woad was Florida State’s leader in the first round with her 1-under par score of 71. She totaled four birdies and was as many as three strokes under par in the first round as she totaled three birdies on her first six holes. The All-American finished the round well with her final seven holes played at 1 stroke under par with one birdie and six holes played at par.

Woad has carded each of her four rounds at par or better and is averaging a team-leading 71.25 strokes per round this spring. She has totaled 10 of her 13 rounds during her sophomore season under par.

Sophomore Mirabel Ting, who is the defending Individual champion in the event, carded an even par score of 72 and is in a tie for 22nd place in the individual standings after the first 18 holes of play. Ting totaled two birdies and 16 holes played at par or better the first round. She was never more than 1 stroke over par on day 1 of play and is a total of 13 strokes under par in four career rounds during play in the Moon Invitational.

The round two tee times will not be announced until Sunday.

Florida State will play for its second team championship in the Moon Invitational after having won the team championship in 2022.

Seventh Annual Moon Invitational/Feb. 17, 19-20-3, 2024

Suntree Country Club,/Melbourne, Fla./Par 72

14/17.-Florida State, 296

T14.-Lottie Woad, 71

T22.-Mirable Ting, 72

T64.-Charlotte Heath, 76

T74.-Alics Hodge, 77

90.-Kaylah Williams, 81


Seventh Annual Moon Invitational/Feb. 17, 19-20-3, 2024

Suntree Country Club,/Melbourne, Fla./Par 72

1.-Auburn, 282

2.-LSU, 283

3.-Louisville, 286

4.-Ole Miss, 287

5.-Virginia Tech, 288

6.-Arkansas, 289

T7.-Wake Forest, 290

T7.-Texas A&M, 290

T9.-Northswestern, 291

T9-.Florida, 291

11.-Clemson, 292

T12.-Duke, 295

T12.-Vanderbilt, 295

14.-Florida State, 296

15.-Alabama, 297

16.-Augusta, 297

17.-UCF, 298

Sunday night's softball game between Florida State and Tennessee at the Clearwater Invitational has been canceled due to inclement weather in the area. The game will not be made up.

FSU will return home for the Dugout Club Classic beginning on Thursday against FIU at 6 p.m. There will be a live stream on ACC Network Extra.

Even with a ton of 2023 contributors gone, DJ Uiagalelei has been impressed by the offensive skill talent on FSU's roster in his first few weeks on campus. He's also stepped into a critical leadership role both for the team as a whole and FSU's QB room.

UPDATE: 4:45 p.m.: Just in from FSU, only one game will be played on Sunday at noon. FSU losing a game from this series. Imagine it will try to add one later to make it up if possible.

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UPDATE: FSU has announced it will not play the second game of the Butler series today.

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No official Sunday update (series finale was supposed to start at noon and no clue if Butler has a travel curfew) but sounds like an update will come from FSU later today.

It didn’t take long for Mother Nature to make her presence felt during Florida State baseball season.

After Saturday’s second game of the season was moved from 2 p.m. to noon last night to try to get ahead of the incoming storm, it failed to do so. The game has now been moved way back to 6 p.m. tonight after the storm has hopefully passed.

We’ll pass along more updates as we get them.

FSU 67 Duke 76 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly


The Good

Jamir Watkins leading the team in scoring with 15 points shooting 7-11 and added four blocked shots as well. It was Watkins' 11th consecutive game in double digits and his 20th game this season.

Cameron Corhen with 14 points and almost a double double with 9 rebounds. Like Watkins, Corhen was very efficient offensively connecting on 7-10 from the floor.

Overall FSU outshot Duke 49% to 46%. But in the end 10 three pointers to just 4 for FSU made a difference.

The bench, 32-5 (all by one player) over Duke.

The Seminoles actually played pretty well defensively. The 'Noles were strong in those categories they are usually dominant in. Such as steals (9), blocked shots (9), and forcing turnovers (17). The 17 turnovers by Duke was a season high for the Blue Devils.

Plays of the game: Darin Green's three immediately followed by Green's deflecting a pass into the lane. Jalen Warley drives the length of the floor dishing off to Corhen for the lay up and a 14-8 lead. Primo Spears with the steal going coast to coast and flips the ball off the backboard with his left hand to pull FSU to within two, 22-20. Jaylen Gainey with the defense forcing a poor shot with the rebound eventually going to Spears speeding down the floor avoiding the defender with a nice step to his right for the lay up, 37-33 Duke. Caleb Foster looking like an easy lay up off the back door play erased by Watkins coming out of nowhere to block the attempt. Gainey with a block of Kyle Filipowski's shot. Always a good thing to see that guy get stuffed. Warley picking Filipowski's pocket going coast to coast for the lay up keeping FSU in the game, 53-45. Warley with the alley oop to Corhen for the two handed slam, 50-43.


The Bad

FSU is now barely above .500 at 13-12 and right at .500 in the ACC, 7-7. The Seminoles are now 1-5 in their last six games. Duke improves its record against FSU to 44-11. There are six regular season games left on the schedule. It is no longer a matter of making the NCAA or even the NIT. It is now a matter of finishing with a winning record. Three wins will achieve that. Three of the six are at home. Winning three at home does not feel so sure anymore given FSU's now 7-7 record in the DLTCC.

Three things led to this latest loss. One is a very familiar problems. One is becoming a trend. The third was just one of those things that happen in games. 1. Rebounding. Hammered once more on the boards and especially on the offensive end. Duke outrebounded the 'Noles 36-27, 15-9. And it wasn't that close as a flurry of offensive rebounds on the last FSU basket closed the gap. Duke's 15 ORb's were converted to 13 second chance points. FSU had by my count had four. 2. Points off turnovers. FSU's 14 turnovers, most of which that were of the unforced variety, gave Duke 18 points. I lost track of FSU's total. But it certainly was not 18 points. 3. One guy went off and had the game of his career so far. Jared McCain tied Duke's freshman scoring record in a game with 35 points. By the 11:19 mark of the first half, McCain had already eclipsed his 12.9 season average. The bulk of those 35 points came off of his 8-11 threes. The guy could not miss. His fifth three pointer came from 38 feet out. And McCain enjoyed every one of them as he shushed the FSU crowd after each made FG. He finally missed a shot with 4:42 left in the half that drew applause. Duke had only one other player in double figures and just six scored.

Where it started to go down hill. FSU led 14-8. Duke proceeded to go on a 21-8 run to lead 29-22. That was pretty much the game as the lead fluctuated mostly between seven and eleven points the rest of the game.

The refs who let this one get chippy. Case in point Filipowski and Watkins have a close encounter of the unwelcomed kind that led to a little elbowing. Fil actually elbowed Jamir a second time with more than a little force. No whistle. But Darin, they made sure to whistle him for handing the ball to McCain. Oh, and FSU finally took its first FT at the 4:58 mark. It was the typical favoritism Duke often receives as its reputation seems to precede them.

Here is hoping Josh Nickelberry eventually learns how to throw a cross court pass without it being picked off and resulting in a fast break basket the other way. To top it he fouled the shooter on the play as well.


The Ugly

From the 15:53 mark to 10:35 left in the game, Duke was 1 of 13 from the floor. With nearly 16 minutes to play, Duke led 50-43. Five plus minutes later the score was 53-47. Despite Duke shooting way worse than poorly, FSU was able to only knock one point off the lead.

The span of four minutes in the second period that saw FSU turn the ball over with four unforced turnovers. My fav would be the bounce pass into the lane that had somewhat less than zip on the ball and was intercepted. Would have helped if the receiver taken a step to the ball.

"Loved" the defensive breakdown that left Mark Mitchell all alone under the basket for the totally uncontested slam dunk and a 71-61 Duke lead and time starting to get short.

Spears pass to Corhen that had a tad more zip to it than you might to see. The ball went right through Corhen's hands and into McCain's. Just showing off now, he dribbled inside the arc, realized he was unguarded, stepped back behind the line and easily nailed the three (what else would have expected at that point) to end the half 44-34.


Up Next

Boston College comes to town on Tuesday for a 7 PM tip and aired on the ACCN. BC is currently 14-10, 5-8 and losing to Miami 73-72 as I write. with 4:14 to play. BTW, BC is favored over the Hurricanes. The Eagles is the lone victory for FSU in its last six games. And it almost was another L had it not been for Boston College being unable to get a final shot off and losing 63-62.

Game story, now includes Leonard Hamilton postgame video:

Saturday's game between top-5 teams has been bumped up to 9 a.m.

We'll have updates below in the thread:

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Florida State (13-11, 7-6 ACC) plays host to No. 8 Duke (19-5, 10-3) on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN). Dave O'Brien and Cory Alexander will be on the call with Myron Medcalf.

FSU has lost four of its last five games. The Seminoles are in a four-way tie for the fifth spot in the ACC standings with Clemson, Pittsburgh and NC State). Duke is a game back of UNC as the top two teams in the league.

The Blue Devils have won their last three games - all at home against Notre Dame, BC and Wake on Monday.

Jamir Watkins has scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games, averaging 17.1 points.

KenPom has Duke winning on Saturday by six. The site's projections have FSU defeating BC, NC State, Georgia Tech and Miami.

FSU coach Leonard Hamilton has won 57 games against a ranked team. The Seminoles defeated a ranked Colorado in November. From FSU's game notes:

Who are some of the players from the past that were destined for greatness based on spring practice reports? Yet, they fell short of expectations. I remember ready in the early 2000s about Richard Goodman. He was a WR, if you don’t remember, that apparently dominated in practice. He was basically a one man wrecking ball to the secondary. Come game time though I don’t even think he played.

Can someone please explain how / why a 5 + 7 model is still being actively discussed when one of the 5 dissolved itself into a 2-team league who is now paired with a G-5 league to ensure it can play games?
Also, reading this article it fully appears that the P-2 is the only thing on the minds of the CFP power brokers.


GO NOLES!!!

Florida State baseball season is here.

After missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 45 seasons last year, the Seminoles kick off their 2024 campaign Friday night (5 p.m. on ACC Network Extra) with a three-game series vs. Butler at Dick Howser Stadium.

FSU will start UCF transfer Cam Leiter (3-2, 4.92 ERA as a freshman in 2023) on the mound as its Friday starter. Butler will counter with Wright State transfer Justin Hornschemeier (didn't pitch last season) on the mound opposite Leiter.

FSU starting lineup:


And Butler's starting lineup:



The Seminoles will debut brand new all-garnet uniforms in Friday's season opener. That new look (FSU has historically worn garnet tops with white pants) is expected to be FSU's customary Friday uniform going forward.

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FSU is also honoring legendary former head coach Mike Martin Sr., who passed away on Feb. 1 at the age of 79, with matching warmup shirts with his "11" number during batting practice tonight.

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I'll be live from Dick Howser Stadium with updates tonight.

FSU baseball struck out 22 batters, allowed just four hits and scored a fitting number of runs in a dominating 11-0 win over Butler to kick off its 2022 season Friday night.
https://t.co/mmxXZ7ULXF

Ta'Niya Latson led Florida State with 23 points, while Sara Bejedi and Makayla Timpson surpassed the 1,000-point mark in a 71-63 win at Wake Forest on Thursday night.

Bejedi scored 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting, knocking down 3 of 5 3-pointers for FSU (18-8, 9-5 ACC)

Timpson scored 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting while pulling down 16 rebounds.

FSU shot 25 of 55 (45.5 percent) from the floor and 6 of 11 (54.5 percent) from 3-point range.

Elise Williams scored 17 points with five rebounds and five assists for Wake (4-21, 0-13). The Demon Deacons shot just 4 of 20 (20 percent) from deep while making 26 of 64 shots (40.6 percent) from the floor.

Latson shot 7 of 19 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. She added six rebounds and four assists, although she did have six turnovers.

Friday's game is No. 5 Florida State (5-1) vs. No. 20 UCLA at 1 p.m. on ESPNU at the Clearwater Invitational.

The Seminoles enjoyed a 4-0 win over No. 9 Stanford on Thursday evening.

FSU and UCLA have faced each of the last four seasons and eight out of the last nine seasons. UCLA leads the overall series 12-9, but coach Lonni Alameda is 7-4 against the Bruins.

UCLA didn't play in Clearwater on Thursday but will play a doubleheader on Friday. They also face Georgia at 1 p.m.

We'll have updates below in the thread.

If you need any help email me at jwarren@fsu.edu

Checked in with FSU basketball signee AJ Swinton (6-6, 190-pound small forward). His team is beginning the playoffs next week and he hasn't been able to make the trip to Tallahassee during the season.

He plans to travel to Tallahassee on the weekend of March 9 for the Miami-FSU game. Also, since he's near Washington, D.C., he will be able to easily catch ACC Tournament games since that is the host site in 2024.

Stock Up

1. WR Koby Howard (Chaminade) 5-11, 180: Howard started his HS career at Pensacola Catholic. He has since moved down to South Florida. He played at Western HS last season and now will finish his high school career at Chaminade. He can return punts. He also has good hands and runs solid routes. Howard has the ability to create the big play. He has visited FSU multiple times and after having Tennessee lead for him, FSU may have moved out in front.

2. TE Elysis Williams (Camden County HS) 6-7, 235 (Committed to UGA) - Can FSU pull the top tight end in Georgia two years in a row? Williams is supposed to visit FSU soon and they have a shot at flipping the Georgia native. Williams is a different level of a tight end. Doubt FSU has ever had anyone as talented as Williams play the position. As long as Williams keeps the line of communication open, FSU has a legit shot at him.

3. OT Ziyare Addison (Sumner HS) 6-5, 280 - Addison put his name on the radar last year around this time. His performances at the UA and Rivals camp got him noticed. His film is very impressive. He is a big guy who can move. He gets on defenders and moves them backwards. He is raw but the upside is very evident when you watch him in person. FSU has a legit shot at Addison. They are one of his leaders.

4. DT Myron Charles (Port Charlotte HS) 6-4, 290 - Charles may be the most important recruit in FSU's class. He also has become a priority. Charles is an elite talent at defensive tackle and FSU did not sign one of them in last year’s recruiting cycle. Charles has FSU in the lead but defensive tackles are a priority for every staff.

5. CB Gregory Xavier Thomas (American Heritage Plantation) 6-2, 180 - Thomas is a heavy lean to FSU. With defensive backs coach Pat Surtain leading the way FSU has jumped in the lead. While some have him as a corner turn his film on and Thomas is more of a natural at safety. FSU has plenty of cornerback options on the roster. It is safety where there is a lack of depth.

Stock Down

1. RB Deandre Desinor (Plantation American Heritage) 5-10, 170 - FSU has focused on Byron Louis at Heritage. While a big fan of Desinor, he is probably down the list of backs at this time. He needs to come to camp this summer and blow FSU away. He would not be a back #2 or #3 option as we feel FSU will sign 2-3 backs in this year’s class.

2. WR Cortez Mills (Homestead HS) 6-1, 170 - Mills has not grown much over the past two years. I think that may be the biggest concern. How much physical growth can Mills have? That being said every time I go and see this kid in person he stands out. He has great hands and runs very good routes. His ball skills are close to elite. He times his jumps well and goes up and snatches the ball out of the air. This is one FSU may have to turn back around on a recruit later in the process.

3. CB DJ Pickett (Zephyrhills) 6-4, 190 - Hate putting him on the stock down list. DJ is the best prospect in Florida. You can't miss out on guys like this and expect to win national titles. There is a long time before now and NSD. That being said FSU needs to get him on campus and give the kid something to think about.

4. Ath Vernell Brown (Orlando Jones HS) 5-11, 170 - Brown wants to play receiver. I feel his best position is defensive back. Think he is a very good player but do you want to really fight a kid on where to play when he won't pick the right side of the ball? When you are projected as a defensive back and you play the position (receiver) that you don't have the same upside then it may be best to move on. FSU has Brown on the board. Will be interesting how hard they recruit him.

5. David Sanders (Charlotte, N.C., Providence Day School) 6-6, 270 - He was an early offer for FSU. They have much more realistic options to land on the OL board. These types of players are hard to pass up but the Seminoles also need some traction. We expect Sanders to not choose FSU.

Only behind the two title teams. But yeah we shouldn’t have been in the playoffs….we were a 1 man team…

Invitations

FSU baseball season begins tomorrow. After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 45 years last year, Link Jarrett and his staff transformed the roster with 26 newcomers this offseason.

Here are three questions surrounding facets of this team which will need to improve.

FSU softball's success and the support of fans around the state have led to Clearwater Invitational's rapid growth