We caught up with FSU coach Leonard Hamilton at the ACC spring meetings. A few quick notes:

Hamilton said Waka Mbatch will return to FSU for a second season. He only played five minutes or so in 2023-24. Very raw but athletic player. When he mentioned the three returning players (after I asked about only two returning) he mentioned Waka's return.

FSU has added some transfers, including the nation's top juco player. He also hinted there is another signee from the portal (a big man) FSU has not announced.

"I'm very proud of our staff because we I think we have improved our depth, our size," Hamilton said. "I think we’ve improved our perimeter shooting tremendously."

When I inquired if he felt Watkins was going on to the NBA, Hamilton said it was too early to tell with the NBA scouting combine in progress. "I think they started today, measurements and stuff like that. A lot depends on how well he plays. … You've had a lot of players go and do well with the combines and elevate their status. You wish them well but from my standpoint, you just have to try to be as prepared as you can one way or the other. But that’s one of the positive things of the portal. You’re going to have some guys still available that we’re talking to."

He said much of the meetings were spent on scheduling. The ACC has only had five schools in the field of 68 each of the last two years. NC State reached the Final Four this spring, for example, as a lower seed. "The number of teams that we've gotten in NCAA Tournament does not reflect how successful we've been once we get into the tournament," Hamilton said.

Florida State (37-12) will be on the road for the final time during the regular season as they travel to DeLand to visit Stetson (33-19) for their second and final game of their season series. This is also the final midweek game of the season for Florida State before closing out the regular season this weekend at home against Georgia Tech. The two teams previously met on March 19th where the Seminoles took a 1-0 victory over the Hatters.

The game begins at 5:00pm EST and is available on ESPN+. You can also listen on radio on WFLA 100.7FM.

Starting lineups will be posted when made official.

AMELIA ISLAND — Florida State athletics director Michael Alford fielded a number of questions about the school’s lawsuits with the ACC in two states. He deflected most of those that applied to the cases and timelines, but he offered some thoughts about a question posed by a writer, who asked: Is there in any way, shape or form that this (FSU as an ACC member) is salvageable?

“We’ll just wait and let it play out,” Alford said. “We have great partners in this conference, great relationships. But at the end of the day, we've got to do what's best for Florida State and look at the changing environment of collegiate athletics and make sure we're there to be successful.”

Here are five more takeaways from Alford’s extended interview with FSU beat writers as well as those from national writers covering the ACC’s spring meetings.

LB Tarvos Alford is playing tonight. He looked like he was going to line up at RB as well as LB. He ended up lining up only at LB. He has made a couple of nice tackles. Nice sized backer who can run. He looks the part. West Boca is running away from him. FSU still is going hard for Alford. I expect them to get him back on campus for a camp or games this summer and fall.

Efrem White who plays quarterback for Vero is committed to fsu. He is not a qb. Solid athlete. He can probably can play defensive back in college. Like his size and he runs well.

Javian Mallory -RB West Boca- he has had a couple of nice runs. Most of his damage has been on screen passes. He has two catches for probably 40-50 yards. One run he had was a fumble for a touchdown. Did not look like a fumble.

CB Jaydin Broadnax -2026 - would not be surprised if fsu offered after tonight. Very nice looking prospect. He is probably 6'2 and can run. Had a couple of nice pass breakups. Should have had a pick six on one play.

👀 FSU will have the:

- First Gameday of the year
- First game of the year
- First (and only) MNF game of the year

And it's against two teams no one is really tuning into see (GT & BC).

The FSU star is bright!! 🌟

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FSU sports information:

Florida State Men’s Golf duplicated its tremendous performance from Monday’s opening round, once against recording a 13-under in the second round on Tuesday at the NCAA Stanford Regional at Stanford Golf Course. The Seminoles are now 26-under (267-267) and sit in second place just one stroke off Illinois’ lead (27-under).

Sophomore Luke Clanton is hunting down his second straight NCAA Regional title, being tied for the lead at 9-under (65-66) alongside Texas A&M’s Phichaksn Maichon. Clanton hopes to be the third consecutive Seminole to win an NCAA Regional after teammate Brett Roberts did it two years ago at the NCAA Palm Beach Regional.

As a team, Florida State would need to shoot a round of 9-under on Wednesday in order to break the lowest NCAA postseason three-round score vs. par in program history. That score was 34-under by the 2021 team at the Tallahassee Regional held at Seminole Legacy Golf Club.

Clanton’s round included four birdies and 14 pars recorded on Tuesday. He tees off at 11:44 a.m. ET/8:44 a.m. PT in Wednesday’s final round.

FSU is well within its Top 5 mark needed to advance to what would be its fourth consecutive NCAA Championship. In third place is Texas A&M (21-under), with Ole Miss (13-under) and SMU (10-under) in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Two other Seminoles are in the Top 6 of the leaderboard in senior Frederik Kjettrup (T4) and redshirt senior Cole Anderson (sixth). Kjettrup had FSU’s low round of the day with a 65, carving up Stanford Golf Course with seven birdies while a double bogey at the par-4, 440-yard 10th hole was his only blemish. Kjettrup is just one stroke off the lead at 8-under (67-65).

Anderson (7-under) remains two shots off the lead after finishing with a 67 in his second round. The Camden, Maine, native delivered six birdies and continues to peak at the most crucial time of the year.

Gray Albright (1-under) is tied for 25th after shooting a 69, while Brett Roberts is tied for 40th at 2-over.

Roberts tees off first for the Seminoles on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.

This week’s live scoring can be tracked exclusively on Golfstat.com.

The buzzwords around the ACC’s spring meetings a year ago? Success initiatives.

What will the talking points be in the next few days when coaches, ADs and administrators gather in Amelia Island, Fla. We take a look:

Mike Norvell talked today at ACC Spring Meetings about a bunch of topics. Here's a full transcript which includes talk on DJ Uiagalelei and why he thinks the players around him complement his skill-set, thoughts on the state of college football and potential roster expansion plus a look ahead to Georgia Tech, who FSU opens the season against in Dublin in just over three months.

FSU sports information:

The Florida State Men’s Golf team got off to a strong start on Monday at the NCAA Stanford Regional, shooting 13-under to sit in second place out of 14 teams at Stanford Golf Course.

The Seminoles recorded their second-lowest NCAA postseason round in program history, only eclipsed by their 17-under score in their opening round of the 2021 Tallahassee Regional held at Seminole Legacy Golf Club.

Senior Gray Albright’s opening eagle on the par-5, 521-yard first hole was a sign of good fortunes to come. Overall, FSU is in second place and four shots behind regional leader Illinois (-17). Host Stanford is in third place at 11-under, followed by Ole Miss and Texas A&M in the Top 5 at 9-under apiece.

Sophomore Luke Clanton caught fire on the back nine and is tied for second with a 5-under 65. Clanton won last year’s NCAA Morgan Hill Regional and looks to add his fourth win of the season, shooting a back-nine 31 which included four birdies.

Clanton only trails Illinois’ Max Herendeen, who is in first place at 7-under.

Redshirt senior Cole Anderson was tremendous in his opening round, tying for seventh with a 4-under 66. He recorded a front-nine 31 and picked up five birdies to continue his solid play after coming off consecutive match-play wins at the ACC Championship.

Senior Frederik Kjettrup recorded just one bogey and is tied for 10th with a 3-under 67, using four birdies to his advantage. He was part of FSU’s five-player lineup whom all birdied the 16th hole, a par-5, 500-yarder.

Albright shot even par, while senior Brett Roberts was a counting score with a 1-under 69 as he is tied for 23rd.

Albright will start the Seminoles off in Tuesday’s second round with an 11:30 a.m. ET tee time. This week’s live scoring can be tracked exclusively on Golfstat.com.

We sat down with Brown last week to discuss his top four and where Florida State stands with him entering OV season.
https://floridastate.rivals.com/new...finalist-for-high-four-star-ath-vernell-brown

and we see FSU as the program with the best shot at the moment. OV SZN still ahead, however.

If you follow the Florida State baseball program at all, you probably saw the damage that a tornado in the area did to FSU's Dick Howser Stadium Friday morning. The right-field chainlink fence was torn and bent backwards as was the foul pole down the right-field line.

Not sure when it happened over the weekend but there's already been some work done on Howser. I traveled out there today to see what things look like. All the upper part of the tall right-field fence and the foul pole have been totally removed. Also removed was the Dick Howser Stadium sign beneath the scoreboard that was partially ripped off during the storm.

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Still no official word from FSU if it will be able to host the scheduled regular-season finale series vs. Georgia Tech Thursday through Saturday as scheduled. We'll share info once we have it. However, it does bear mentioning that the infield was covered with a tarp while I was there to protect it from rain. That, to me at least, speaks of at least some hope that Howser can host this weekend's games.

Fan Duel just released its ACC Over/Under season win totals for the 2024 season. Do you like the Over or Under on Fan Duel's win total of 9.5 for FSU in 2024?

2024 season schedule:

Georgia Tech in Dublin
Boston College
Memphis
Cal
@ SMU
Clemson
@ Duke
@ Miami
UNC
@Notre Dame
Charleston Southern
Florida

Roydell Williams could have a chance to shine:

Right here:

I like the idea the Boosters are raising money for the Marching Chiefs to attend more games. What do you think? And how would you think that effort is going in its first months?
Here's the story on the Marching Chiefs Coaches Club Fund.

Share your thoughts and whether you've contributed and I'll get an update from the Boosters on how much has been raised thus far.

Via Peach Bowl Challenge:

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and partner Urban Meyer defeated South Carolina’s Shane Beamer and teammate Houston Nutt in a tournament-record, four-hole playoff to win the 2024 Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge.

The nation’s premier collegiate coach golf event featured a field of 24 current and former college football coaches, playing in 12 two-man teams, competing for a share of a $300,000 charity purse. The tournament was held today at Reynolds Lake Oconee outside Atlanta and was played in a Two-Man Scramble format with Stableford scoring. Pairings were determined by balancing handicaps between teams.

“It was a game of response. We saw some good, and we saw some bad. We just continued to make the plays necessary. Coach Meyer came through in the clutch and it was just a great round,” said Norvell. “I thought we did a really good job of playing together. Coach Meyer had some big putts in critical moments. The timing of our scoring was critical.”

Norvell and Meyer carded three eagles and three birdies in their round to take home their first-ever Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge championship. Beamer and Nutt eagled their final hole to force a playoff, but Norvell and Meyer outlasted them over the four extra holes. This marks Florida State’s second Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge title after Jimbo Fisher and Terrell Buckley won the event in 2010.

“I’m a big Seminoles fan today. We played well, and ham and egged it all day,” said Meyer. “Mike can hit the ball 310-320, so every hole we were in position. It was a little bit of a marathon.”

With this year’s $300,000 charity purse, the Southern Company Peach Bowl Challenge also generated an additional $17,840 through a silent auction, as well as $2,850 that was raised by PGA golfer Matt Kuchar. This year’s total of $320,690 has now contributed to a total of $9.7 million in scholarship and charity since 2007, helping make Peach Bowl, Inc. college football’s most charitable bowl organization. Proceeds from the event benefit charitable foundations selected by the coaches.

Norvell has now won a total of $42,500 in the event’s history, while Meyer has taken home $192,500 all-time for his charities.

Given the fact he hasn't set up an official visit with FSU kind of tells you where things stand with Rogers but recruiting is a fickle mistress and strangers things have happened. He was on-campus of an UOV in April. So, I wouldn't be shocked if they get an OV from him.

The game time/television channel for FSU's first two football games of the 2024 season (the opener vs. GT in Ireland and the home opener vs. Boston College) were announced this morning. Both games will be on ESPN with vastly different start times.

Will it be ready to play Thursday night?

Just in from FSU: Dick Howser Stadium will be able to host this weekend's regular-season finale series vs. Georgia Tech after sustaining damage last week due to a tornado.

The latest: