AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- We'll soon know the non-conference schedule for Luke Loucks' debut season leading the Florida State men's basketball program.
The FSU head coach said as much when addressing media members Tuesday during a break in the ACC's Spring Meetings. And from the sounds of it, the Seminoles' out-of-conference schedule will look a little different than it did during much of Leonard Hamilton's tenure. Loucks brought the mindset from his time as an NBA assistant coach to assemble a schedule that will challenge his team for the grind of ACC play that will lie ahead.
"Everybody thought I was nuts," Loucks said of the schedule he's attempted to assemble. "I'm coming from the NBA where an off night, you're still going against NBA all-stars. You take your foot off the gas at all, you're going to lose. I'm familiar (with college scheduling) because I played, but I'm not used to scheduling bad teams. I'm coming in, I want to play everyone and everyone was like, 'Slow down big dog, we'll get there.' The deal I made, (assistant coach) Michael Fly is helping us put the schedule together and all the coaches have influence, I said, 'Give me a handful of big-time games that we can schedule.' Fly has done an unbelievable job of making those connections."
Loucks said an initial thought he had about the Seminoles' schedule was attempting to play all four teams that made this year's Final Four. Two of those four, in-state rival Florida and ACC foe Duke, will be on the schedule. As for the other two, Houston and Auburn, it is still up in the air. But while he didn't name opponents, Loucks gave an outline of what the challenging parts of the non-con schedule will look like.
"We have probable contracts, not signed, we'll have three big-time neutral games, we'll have one big-time game at home, one on the road. Obviously, the road one will be Florida and then the homes and neutrals, we're still signing the contracts," Loucks said. "To me, when you book those games, I want them to be top-10, top-15 opponents because it's a way to measure yourself against the best. You can talk about wanting to improve the program and be the best and be competitive. You don't know what that feels like until you play those teams...Those are the things that maybe I'm just young and naive, but I want to play the best."
Loucks made it clear he understands the importance of playing less-talented, lower-conference teams early in the season as well. However, he's also gained a quick understanding with an assist from his assistant coaches and coaches from across the ACC about the importance of scheduling start. Poor NET manipulation and non-conference scheduling has played a role in the ACC placing five or fewer teams in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
"Where it gets a little tricky is I've had so many schools reach out. Every school in Florida -- FIU, FAU, UCF, USF, all of them -- because it helps them. Those games, as much as I want to play them, sometimes those games don't help you," Loucks said. "No disrespect to any of those schools, but it's a constant puzzle to put together of you've got to play great opponents, but then you have to have very, very winnable games. Those middle-ground (games), that's where a lot of teams get in trouble is playing those teams in Quad 2 and Quad 3 that if you win them, it doesn't really do much for you and if you lose them, it destroys you. That's what we're trying to avoid as we put this schedule together."
Summer program underway for the Seminoles
As FSU's new head coach attended his first ACC spring meetings session on Monday, his reassembled roster began its summer conditioning program that same day.
After Loucks and his staff assembled a roster of two returning players, two high-school signees and six transfer additions, these players recently moved in and have begun a series of voluntary workouts.
"The move-in was great. A lot of the parents came in," Loucks said. "Right now, the first two weeks are going to be all voluntary. Voluntary weight room, voluntary on-court."
NCAA rules permit the coaches just eight weeks of on-court instruction over the summer. Loucks said that will begin at FSU in late May. In the meantime, though, the Seminoles have begun to take on a player-led workout program on the court, just like the ones Loucks remembers being a part of when he was a Seminole.
"This is what we used to do back in the day. Players organize them, they come together, and they get better," Loucks said. "Just because you can't get coached, this isn't a time to not get better. They're in the weight room every day, they're on the court every day. The feedback I'm getting, at least, is they're getting after it. I'm obviously here so I can't see it with my own eyes, but it's been good so far."
Loucks also said that while his roster is currently at 10 players, he expects to add two more players at some point over the summer. Without sharing details, he said he expects two add two or three more "European guys" and that it will "take a little bit of time."
Loucks close to finalizing full staff
For a few weeks, Loucks had assembled his first full coaching staff at FSU. But then, Amorrow Morgan, who Loucks had hired away from Cal, was recruited to join Rick Barnes' staff at Tennessee in early May. That again left the FSU head coach with a vacancy he'll need to fill.
"First of all, I'm super happy for him. Amorrow Morgan is an unbelievable guy. I got to work with him for about five weeks. He obviously got a lot of money to go to Tennessee with Rick Barnes. He's from Tennessee. Not only did I give my complete blessing, I was like, 'You have to take this for your family, for you,' " Loucks said. "One thing I told all of my coaches and our players is 'I want what's best for each of you, and that's not always what is best for me.' When an opportunity like that presents itself, you've got to go take it. I'm happy for him."
Even if the staff isn't fully assembled yet, the FSU head coach has come away quite happy with the hires he made and the basketball minds/people he's surrounded himself with.
"Our staff has been incredible. First and foremost, we have a lot of good people that I trust, that work their tails off. Good basketball minds that know how to teach, know how to get on the floor and sweat with the guys, know how to prep, know how to gameplan," Loucks said. "Three of the four (assistants) I have right now are previous head coaches. They've sat in my seat, they know what I'm going through, and in those things, they can help in a lot of different ways."
The FSU head coach said as much when addressing media members Tuesday during a break in the ACC's Spring Meetings. And from the sounds of it, the Seminoles' out-of-conference schedule will look a little different than it did during much of Leonard Hamilton's tenure. Loucks brought the mindset from his time as an NBA assistant coach to assemble a schedule that will challenge his team for the grind of ACC play that will lie ahead.
"Everybody thought I was nuts," Loucks said of the schedule he's attempted to assemble. "I'm coming from the NBA where an off night, you're still going against NBA all-stars. You take your foot off the gas at all, you're going to lose. I'm familiar (with college scheduling) because I played, but I'm not used to scheduling bad teams. I'm coming in, I want to play everyone and everyone was like, 'Slow down big dog, we'll get there.' The deal I made, (assistant coach) Michael Fly is helping us put the schedule together and all the coaches have influence, I said, 'Give me a handful of big-time games that we can schedule.' Fly has done an unbelievable job of making those connections."
Loucks said an initial thought he had about the Seminoles' schedule was attempting to play all four teams that made this year's Final Four. Two of those four, in-state rival Florida and ACC foe Duke, will be on the schedule. As for the other two, Houston and Auburn, it is still up in the air. But while he didn't name opponents, Loucks gave an outline of what the challenging parts of the non-con schedule will look like.
"We have probable contracts, not signed, we'll have three big-time neutral games, we'll have one big-time game at home, one on the road. Obviously, the road one will be Florida and then the homes and neutrals, we're still signing the contracts," Loucks said. "To me, when you book those games, I want them to be top-10, top-15 opponents because it's a way to measure yourself against the best. You can talk about wanting to improve the program and be the best and be competitive. You don't know what that feels like until you play those teams...Those are the things that maybe I'm just young and naive, but I want to play the best."
Loucks made it clear he understands the importance of playing less-talented, lower-conference teams early in the season as well. However, he's also gained a quick understanding with an assist from his assistant coaches and coaches from across the ACC about the importance of scheduling start. Poor NET manipulation and non-conference scheduling has played a role in the ACC placing five or fewer teams in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
"Where it gets a little tricky is I've had so many schools reach out. Every school in Florida -- FIU, FAU, UCF, USF, all of them -- because it helps them. Those games, as much as I want to play them, sometimes those games don't help you," Loucks said. "No disrespect to any of those schools, but it's a constant puzzle to put together of you've got to play great opponents, but then you have to have very, very winnable games. Those middle-ground (games), that's where a lot of teams get in trouble is playing those teams in Quad 2 and Quad 3 that if you win them, it doesn't really do much for you and if you lose them, it destroys you. That's what we're trying to avoid as we put this schedule together."
Summer program underway for the Seminoles
As FSU's new head coach attended his first ACC spring meetings session on Monday, his reassembled roster began its summer conditioning program that same day.
After Loucks and his staff assembled a roster of two returning players, two high-school signees and six transfer additions, these players recently moved in and have begun a series of voluntary workouts.
"The move-in was great. A lot of the parents came in," Loucks said. "Right now, the first two weeks are going to be all voluntary. Voluntary weight room, voluntary on-court."
NCAA rules permit the coaches just eight weeks of on-court instruction over the summer. Loucks said that will begin at FSU in late May. In the meantime, though, the Seminoles have begun to take on a player-led workout program on the court, just like the ones Loucks remembers being a part of when he was a Seminole.
"This is what we used to do back in the day. Players organize them, they come together, and they get better," Loucks said. "Just because you can't get coached, this isn't a time to not get better. They're in the weight room every day, they're on the court every day. The feedback I'm getting, at least, is they're getting after it. I'm obviously here so I can't see it with my own eyes, but it's been good so far."
Loucks also said that while his roster is currently at 10 players, he expects to add two more players at some point over the summer. Without sharing details, he said he expects two add two or three more "European guys" and that it will "take a little bit of time."
Loucks close to finalizing full staff
For a few weeks, Loucks had assembled his first full coaching staff at FSU. But then, Amorrow Morgan, who Loucks had hired away from Cal, was recruited to join Rick Barnes' staff at Tennessee in early May. That again left the FSU head coach with a vacancy he'll need to fill.
"First of all, I'm super happy for him. Amorrow Morgan is an unbelievable guy. I got to work with him for about five weeks. He obviously got a lot of money to go to Tennessee with Rick Barnes. He's from Tennessee. Not only did I give my complete blessing, I was like, 'You have to take this for your family, for you,' " Loucks said. "One thing I told all of my coaches and our players is 'I want what's best for each of you, and that's not always what is best for me.' When an opportunity like that presents itself, you've got to go take it. I'm happy for him."
Even if the staff isn't fully assembled yet, the FSU head coach has come away quite happy with the hires he made and the basketball minds/people he's surrounded himself with.
"Our staff has been incredible. First and foremost, we have a lot of good people that I trust, that work their tails off. Good basketball minds that know how to teach, know how to get on the floor and sweat with the guys, know how to prep, know how to gameplan," Loucks said. "Three of the four (assistants) I have right now are previous head coaches. They've sat in my seat, they know what I'm going through, and in those things, they can help in a lot of different ways."
