There aren’t many believers in the Florida State men’s basketball team entering Luke Loucks’ first season as head coach.
FSU was picked to finish 16th (out of 18) in the ACC by media voters. Jon Rothstein
put the Seminoles 18th in his preseason power rankings. The KenPom preseason ratings have Florida State 96th in D-I, six spots behind Boston College as the lowest-rated ACC team and one spot behind Penn State as the lowest-rated high-major team.
Loucks doesn’t seem mad about this. He gets why a 35-year-old, first-time college coach who assembled a roster largely consisting of mid-major transfers may not have many believers before a game has been played.
But he’s certainly aware of it. He brought the KenPom and Rothstein spots up himself when asked if he’s been using this lack of attention as bulletin board material.
“1,000%. Every time one of these preseason polls comes out, I don’t run from this stuff. And you shouldn’t feel bad about it,” Loucks told Tomahawk Nation last week. “ … I hit the guys between their eyes. This is what’s being said about you, and this is why we’re pushing you so hard.”
While KenPom’s ratings just dropped this month, that hasn’t stopped him from using this as motivation all offseason with his players.
“The collection of (coach and roster uncertainty) is no one’s going to believe in what we’re doing until they see it, until there’s proof of concept,” Loucks said “All of us collectively have a chip on our shoulder that we want to go out, but we want to do it together. To me, those are the best teams. Those are always the hardest teams.
“It’s not necessarily the most talented on paper. It’s the group and the chemistry, and that’s why our theme is connected. We are connected. No one’s going to believe in what we’re doing until we go show them and prove it. I think that’s our roster. It’s a bunch of mid-major guys that haven’t proven themselves, and it’s a young, first-time head coach. All of us are excited to go out and do it together.”
Even though it was just an exhibition, the Seminoles’ 109-105 loss to No. 15 Alabama in Birmingham, Ala. last week may have been the first proof of how the uncertainty around the program should not be misconstrued for lack of ability.
After talking about the tempo he wants to play at, Loucks and the Seminoles put that on display, showing they were able to keep up with Alabama’s frenetic pace, even sometimes playing more efficiently and effectively than the Crimson Tide (who were picked to finish fourth in the SEC) in a 109-105 exhibition loss.
It was a statement of what could be, especially long-term in the program. But Loucks know that only happens and it only matters if the team delivers.
But he has sure enjoyed using it as fuel.
“None of (the expectations) matters until we go perform,” Loucks said. “There’s a lot of unknowns in this building, and I love it. To me, it wakes me up and motivates me, and it should motivate them, too.”
