Three years ago, Florida State athletic director Michael Alford walked with head coach Leonard Hamilton to his post-game press conference before Hamilton stopped in his tracks and pointed at a former player back for a visit.
“That’s a great coach,” Hamilton told Alford, “keep your eye on him.”
Alford obliged.
It almost seems too poetic to be true, then that Luke Loucks, the aforementioned coach to watch, will be the one to take the reins following the Florida State legend.
Hamilton and Loucks’ connections stem back almost 20 years, when Loucks committed to Florida State as an underrecruited guard out of Clearwater, Florida. In four years, he became an invaluable piece to Hamilton’s team, culminating in FSU’s first-ever ACC tournament title in 2012 (even as he dismisses himself as “an average player on very good teams).
Their bond grew after he left FSU and bounced around professional leagues over the years, with Hamilton’s pull forcing Loucks to come home.
“I tell my wife [Stevi] about my visits to Coach Hamilton in his office,” said Loucks during his introductory press conference on Monday, “He’s still got the same couch 25 years later. It’s the same couch I sat on when he was yelling at me for turning the ball over.”
“You will be stuck in there — a lot of times our trips [back to Tallahassee] have been like day trips. We got 30 friends to see. We got a dinner, we got a lunch and I’m like, ‘Hey, I got it. I have to go talk to Coach Hamilton.’ And she’s looking at me like, ‘our whole day’s ruined, right?’”
The bond between them makes Loucks the perfect man to fill the shoes of a giant. He understands the landscape and needs of the program, a program falling short in almost every category needed to be a contender. He brings a youthful energy to an otherwise dormant fanbase, waiting on the sidelines for the last four seasons, begging for any reason to cheer.
Most importantly, he will be undeterred in fixing the broken nature of the program because he felt what it takes to win here, and knows what it looks like.
“A couple of people I’m close with, [they advised] do not talk about winning championships. Do not talk because it sets a bar. I want that bar. I’m coming here to win,” Loucks promised. “And if anyone doesn’t like that, I don’t want to work with you.”
“You should have that level and standard of excellence and everything you do. And if you don’t, I probably don’t want to be associated with you….I don’t care if it’s Duke or we’re playing [my kid’s] 7 and under team. I’m coming to win.”
The first step to building a sustainable winner in Tallahassee will be creating a roster that competes with the top teams around the country. Hamilton’s ability to attract and retain players fell off after COVID. He once masterfully took underrated players and molded them into the parts that powered the program, but the rosters of the last few years look nothing like the ones littered with NBA talent.
Loucks also wants to continue finding hidden gems, saying yesterday he would not “compete” with the big dogs that toss gobs of cash at transfer portal players or recruits. Like Hamilton, he told the media that his personnel still will be about attracting to the Seminoles and retaining it, making kids want to stay based on the coaching they receive, not the dollar signs.
“My roster construction, it’s going to be heavily influenced by roster retention. Recruiting the right kids on the first go around. And then they want to stay until they get to professional athletics. That is my skill as a player development. That is my skill with connections throughout the NBA.”
“We are going to develop you to make way more money than what you’re going to make with us or anywhere else.”
But unlike his predecessor, Loucks understands the transfer portal’s musical chairs nature from his days in Europe and professional basketball. In Europe, most contracts are signed for only a year, an experience Loucks believes resembles the transfer portal. Along with the roster portion, the former Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors assistant coach learned how to deal with egos in the NBA, and form a cohesive team.
“My reality as a professional coach and a professional player in Europe is constant roster turnover, constant ego management, constant players. I’m better than this guy. Why am I getting paid less? His contract is more. And then there’s coaches and all these guys are making more than you, right? And then there’s egos and then there’s, Hey, I want to trade because you guys aren’t coaching me this way.”
“You deal with that. That’s a Wednesday for us. Right? And so this reality of collegiate athletics.”
After Loucks forms his roster, his vision will be implemented. He wants to take some of Hamilton’s fundamental elements, such as ball pressure, offensive rebounds, and forcing turnovers, and coach them in a way that fits modern basketball. Loucks’ time in the NBA introduced him to analytics, forming his schematic philosophy.
“If you boil basketball down to the most granular level, it is a game of efficiency and a game of possession. If you win both of those things, you are in a great place.”
That modern approach dictates the style of play on both ends of the court. Offensively, Loucks wants his team to attack in transition before the defense sets, space the floor, and touch the paint, three ways math says create easy, high percentage baskets. Defensively, Loucks laid out four principles yesterday: communication, ball pressure, guarding without fouling, and protecting the paint.
With a modern approach and a style that meshes the pro and college game together, the new FSU head coach believes the Seminoles can win games early and often with the right intangibles.
“There’s gonna be no confusion and our players, most importantly, will understand. Our vision and our style right is going to be a style, and I’m not going to go into the teams that play like this in college, but I promise you they’re very successful.”
When first taking the job, Loucks lacked Hamilton’s head coaching experience, and the 34-year-old will need time and resources to fulfill his belief in the program’s potential. But Loucks knows he will be able to lean on his mentor through thick and thin.
“Coach Hamilton and I have a great relationship. I’m going to lean on him quite a bit.”
“Whether I ask for it or not, he’s going to give me his opinion.”
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