Florida State Desperate to Halt Slide vs. North Florida

FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton on exhibition opener, first impression of Jamir Watkins

Florida State will have another opportunity at home to end its current losing streak when it hosts North Florida, Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

The Seminoles (4-5) lost the first of a five-game homestand to SMU 68-57 Saturday, when they shot a season-low 31.1 percent from the field that resulted in a season scoring low.

Only two players, Darin Green Jr. and Primo Spears, managed to get into double figures, and they barely did with 10 points apiece.

Spears was playing his first game since a judge in West Virginia issued a temporary restraining order that suspended an NCAA rule that requires players making a second transfer to sit out a season. The NCAA has since extended that suspension of its rule for the rest of the season.

Spears missed his first 10 shots before finishing the game 2-of-14 from the field.

Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said he was “tremendously disappointed” by the loss, which was his team’s fourth consecutive setback after a 4-1 start to the season 4-1.

“We have to be more consistent with our energy and our efforts,” Hamilton said.

Jamir Watkins leads Florida State in scoring with his 13.2 ppg average. He is shooting 45.6 percent from the field but suffered from the same malady as his teammates with a 2-of-7 effort in the loss to SMU.

North Florida (7-5) comes in riding a modest three-game winning streak after a 113-72 rout of NCCAA member Trinity Baptist on Saturday. Six players scored in double figures for the Ospreys, led by freshman Jasai Miles‘ 22 points.

Their leading scorers for the season, however, are veteran guards Chaz Lanier (15.6 ppg) and Ametri Ross (11.9).

With the rout of Trinity Baptist, coach Matthew Driscoll picked up his 250th career win and 224th at North Florida. He is 0-7 against the Seminoles, however, and 0-2 this season against power-conference opponents with losses to LSU (75-63) and Iowa (103-78).

He isn’t shy about letting his Ospreys let it fly, as they are shooting 35.4 from 3-point range and were 17-of-49 from behind the arc in their last outing.

“We actually should have taken more,” Driscoll said, “but we’ve got to knock in more as well, too.”

This will be the first of five consecutive road games overall and first of three in a row against Power 6 foes with trips to Georgia and Miami to follow.

  1. College Sports News

    WCC to Add Grand Canyon and Seattle in 2025

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    Seattle and Grand Canyon will be leaving the Western Athletic Conference and moving to the West Coast Conference starting July 2025.

    The nine current members of the conference are private universities with a religious affiliation. Seattle is a Jesuit institution, while Grand Canyon, situated in Phoenix, is a Christian college.

    Grand Canyon’s basketball achievements were a significant factor in attracting WCC commissioner Stu Jackson. The team has participated in the last two NCAA Tournaments and three of the previous four under the leadership of coach Bryce Drew.

    As the 12th-seeded Antelopes defeated fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s before losing to Alabama in the tournament this season.

    Saint Mary’s is currently a member of the West Coast Conference.

    The WCC, while also integrating Oregon State and Washington State this autumn (excluding football), will expand from 11 to 13 members by the 2025-26 season.

    The future beyond 2026 looks uncertain, with Oregon State and Washington State appearing unlikely to continue with the WCC.

    The former Pac-12 schools are under a two-year contract, expiring on June 30, 2026. Sources from CBS Sports suggest that the odds of the two Pacific Northwest institutions staying are slim, with a move to the Mountain West or a new conference formation being more probable.

    Following the departures of Sam Houston and New Mexico State last year, Seattle and Grand Canyon’s exit from the WAC will reduce the conference’s membership to just eight by July 2025.

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  2. College Sports News

    Ex-Cal State Fullerton G Max Jones Commits to Kansas State

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Former guard of Cal State Fullerton Max Jones has made a decision to join Kansas State for his upcoming collegiate season, according to reports.

    Notable alternatives that Jones purportedly pondered were New Mexico, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, and Loyola Chicago.

    During the previous season with the Titans, Jones maintained an average of 15.3 points and 3.0 rebounds across 24 games, in which he started 21. He secured the second-highest scoring position within the team, alongside being the second in 3-pointers with 42 baskets and 41 steals.

    In the season prior, Jones held an average of 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 32 games, amassing 34 three-pointers and 30 steals.

    Before making his way to Cal State Fullerton post the 2021-22 season, Jones spent two years at Division II Tampa, where he managed to achieve an average of 21.9 points across 21 games during his sophomore year with the Spartans.

    In the recent offseason, Kansas State acquired Dug McDaniel, a former player from Michigan recognized as one of the premier point guards available in this year’s transfer portal.

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  3. College Sports News

    Stanford Names Basketball Court in Honor of Tara VanDerveer

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    Tara VanDerveer’s legacy at Stanford will now be visibly acknowledged, with the school revealing on Thursday that the basketball arena’s floor will bear the name of the esteemed Hall of Fame coach.

    At the age of 70, VanDerveer stepped down following her 38th season at the helm of the Cardinal.

    She steered Stanford to 14 Final Fours and secured three national championships (1990, 1992, 2021). VanDerveer embarked on her coaching journey at Idaho (1978-80) and later coached at Ohio State (1980-85).

    In January, she surpassed Mike Krzyzewski to clinch the title of the most successful college basketball coach in history, across both men’s and women’s teams. VanDerveer concluded with a remarkable 1,216-271 record, boasting a 1,064-220 tally with the Cardinal.

    Alongside the unveiling of the Tara VanDerveer Court at Maples Pavilion this November, Stanford also established an endowed position in women’s basketball for an assistant coach in VanDerveer’s honor.

    VanDerveer said in a statement, “This endowment will go a long way to strengthening the future of Stanford women’s basketball. I have many wonderful memories of leading the women’s basketball program at Maples Pavilion.”

    “It’s an honor, and a little surreal, to know that my name will be linked to both in these ways, and I look forward to celebrating with all our fans this fall.”

    Last month, Stanford appointed Kate Paye, one of VanDerveer’s longtime assistant coaches who played for the Cardinal from 1991-95 and began coaching under VanDerveer in 2007, as the new head coach.

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