Back in the Bay: Loucks Guides Noles in Tampa Test

By Joey Johnston

Homecoming is a football tradition. 

But Friday night at the Benchmark International Arena in downtown Tampa, when the ACC’s Florida State Seminoles take on the SEC’s Texas A&M Aggies during a “Battle In The Bay’’ men’s basketball special event, it’s essentially the Homecoming game for first-year FSU head coach Luke Loucks.                        

“It’s going to be great being back home, where I have so many memories,’’ Loucks said. 

Loucks is a Tampa Bay area local through and through.

He went to Plumb Elementary, Oak Grove Middle, and Clearwater High School, where he set the Tornado single-game passing mark as a prolific quarterback and etched his name among the basketball program’s all-time greats as an angular point guard. He learned under legendary coaches such as Jack Wilson, Rudy Coffin, and Jack Coit.

As a lifelong FSU fan — one of his earliest memories is watching television at his grandfather’s house when Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles captured the 1993 national championship — there was no question about his path. Loucks signed with Coach Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles, just in time for an unforgettable era — four straight NCAA Tournament bids and the 2012 ACC Tournament championship, when the Seminoles upset Duke and North Carolina on back-to-back afternoons.

From there, Loucks played four professional seasons in Europe and the NBA Developmental League before becoming an NBA coach. He worked with the Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings, believing that his head-coaching opportunity would come in the professional ranks.

He never thought about returning to college.

Until last season’s retirement of Hamilton, who departed after 23 FSU seasons and a 460-296 record.

Until he heard the call of his alma mater.

“They (FSU athletic administrators) gave me a shout and wanted to interview me,’’ Loucks said. “Even though I loved Florida State, I just thought I was in a good spot in the NBA. But once we had some of the conversations, it became apparent real quick that this could make a lot of sense, not only career-wise, but for our family.

“My wife (Stevi) was an FSU athlete (swimmer). We have three young kids (seven, five, and three years old). We’ve never lived close to family or been in an area where our parents or cousins or siblings could pop in on us. It was always a cross-country flight. So coming back to Tallahassee would give us a real community, real friends, and real relationships already built in. And career-wise, it was my chance to become a head coach at a place I really cared about, a place where we could get back to competing for NCAA Tournament bids and ACC championships every year.’’

And Loucks will be chasing those accomplishments with his own style, a decidedly different approach that the physical, defense-first style that was Hamilton’s trademark.

The new-look Seminoles are go-go-go. They play fast, look to force turnovers, and want to score early in the shot clock. Mid-range jumpers are out. It’s all about layups and three-point attempts. FSU has already taken an ACC-record 47 three-point attempts in one game, while averaging 104.5 points in its first two outings. You can count Florida Gators coach Todd Golden as a big believer in FSU’s style. The Seminoles took the defending national champion Gators to the wire on Nov. 11, falling 78-76 in Gainesville.

“Some of the defensive things I’ve learned from Coach Hamilton will continue — the tenacity, the ball pressure, the way your defense can disrupt a game — but we’ll be playing a more modern style of offense, and it will look very different,’’ Loucks said. “It will look more like the NBA or an international style. I want to score a lot of points.

“We’re aiming for efficiency. I believe in analytics, in five guys working to create an efficient shot on every possession. It’s a fast tempo. We’ll attack the paint. We will shoot a lot of threes, but we won’t just be chucking up threes. We’re looking to create open threes off catch-and-shoot situations. When we draw the second defender and someone’s wide open, we’re kicking it out. If they rotate, it’s an extra pass for a wide-open shot. These are things I’ve learned from (NBA head coaches) Steve Kerr and Mike Brown, the guys who came under Gregg Popovich. You’ve got to play together and be selfless. The ball has got to move. All those things that go into creating high-powered, highly efficient offenses, which have been in the NBA, and now it’s getting into college ball.’’

As a newcomer to the modern college game, Loucks learned about the importance of roster construction. After losing the bulk of FSU’s potential returnees to the transfer portal, Loucks signed seven transfers, including guards Robert McCray V (Jacksonville) and Lajae Jones (St. Bonaventure), along with 6-foot-10, 225-pound forward Chauncey Wiggins (Clemson). In the opener against Alcorn State, McCray had an FSU-record 17 assists (beating the mark of 16, which was set 53 years ago by Otto Petty).

Loucks, 35, said he has relatable stories to pass along to any college-aged player — such as what it’s really like to work with NBA legends Steph Curry and Draymond Green — so he believes that part of his message will always resonate with top talent.

“We’re going to recruit Florida really heavily,’’ Loucks said. “We’ve got 40 or so top-100 players right now in Florida. If you add in Georgia, there’s about 50. So we aim to stop that talent from leaving the state. We want to sign those kids and get them to help turn around our program.’’

Loucks said it’s a major positive for FSU’s program to gain exposure in the Tampa Bay area. It’s also time for a holiday weekend reunion — and hopefully a chance for FSU’s fans to gather after some Black Friday shopping.

“There were lots of people behind the scenes who wanted FSU to play a basketball game in Tampa,’’ Loucks said. “Once we got that rolling, we wanted to find the best opponent possible. We were already talking to Texas A&M about doing a game. I’ve got so much respect for Bucky (McMillan, Texas A&M’s first-year coach) and what he’s doing. So the conversations naturally flowed into doing a neutral-site game and making it in Tampa.

“I’m super excited to come back. Most of my family lives throughout Central Florida, but I still have a ton of friends in Clearwater. Every time I go back, even just in passing, I’m running into people I grew up with or that I know closely but haven’t seen in so long. I’m really looking forward to it.’’

So says Luke Loucks, the former Seminole player and first-year FSU head coach who’s looking to add another distinction to his resume on Black Friday.

Homecoming King.

See Coach Loucks and the Seminoles take on the Texas A&M Aggies on Nov. 28 at Benchmark Arena. All tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com with prices starting at just $25.