May Day Hoops Update

When the Noles were left out of the big dance it left a lot of us feeling crabby, but then they made a nice run in the NIT where Aaron Thomas cemented himself as a future star. So there's a little momentum heading into next year. Furthering that is some news that's been trickling out of late, and here is what you need to know.

Renovations at the Tuck

I've never cherry coated the fact that FSU is miles behind most of Division I programs when it comes to facilities, and the Tucker Center has always been an easy target. The truth is that it needs tens of millions of dollars put into it, but that doesn't change the fact that there are many relatively cheap upgrades that can be made. Now it appears that FSU is picking some of that low hanging fruit.

The awful skittles seat covers are going away, and the new all-garnet look is pretty slick. FSU will also be adding to the current technology by upgrading the video board and adding sideline displays.

Scheduling

FSU has been chosen to play in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tip-off Classic. I can't say I'm particularly fond of tournaments without a true bracket (especially when a parallel DII tourney is played at the same time that uses a real bracket to determine the champion) but regardless, here are FSU's opponents. The first two are at home, the next two are in Connecticut, and the tourney will open the season.

Manhattan: The Jaspers were a very good team this year and earned a 13-seed in the tourney. But they lost George Beamon to graduation, and he was one of the best players in MAAC history. They also lost their coach - Steve Masiello - to USF, but it turns out he lied about having a degree from Kentucky and subsequently ended up back at Manhattan.

Northeastern: For the 2nd straight year FSU will face Northeastern in a tournament. They were an average Colonial Athletic team last year, and though I haven't really looked too deeply into their roster, they didn't have a single senior who played significant minutes.

Providence: Now we're talking. FSU will get a shot at a Big East team who made the dance, though they did graduate their star Bryce Cotton.

UMass: Again, FSU vs UMass. RPI darling UMass should be solid again, but will be breaking in several new starters.

FSU will also being playing in the December Orange Bowl Classic for the 6th time (where the Noles knocked off UMass last year) and this time FSU will meet USF who should be terrible.

In the ACC/Big Ten Challenge the Noles will host Nebraska, who might lack name value but made the dance this year and should be even better next year.

Roster

FSU still hasn't received word on Kiel Turpin's medical redshirt. Assuming he's back then the Noles will be one of the few ACC teams not to lose players early. Here are the losses so far:

Boston College, Ryan Anderson (Transfer)

Boston College, Joe Rahon (Transfer to St. Mary's)

Clemson, KJ McDaniels (NBA)

Clemson, Adonis Filer (Transfer)

Clemson, Devon Coleman (Transfer to Temple)

Duke, Rodney Hood (NBA)

Duke, Jabari Parker (NBA)

Duke, Alex Murphy (Transfer to UF)

Georgia Tech, Solomon Poole (Transfer)

Louisville, Kevin Ware (Transfer to GA State)

Louisville, Chane Behanan (Transfer to Colorado St)

Miami, James Kelly (Transfer)

NC State TJ Warren (NBA)

NC State, Tyler Lewis (Transfer to Butler)

North Carolina, James Michael McAdoo (NBA)

Notre Dame, Cameron Beidscheid (Transfer to Mizzou)

Syracuse, Tyler Ennis (NBA)

Syracuse, Jerami Grant (NBA)

Virginia, Teven Jones (Transfer)

Virginia Tech, Trevor Thompson (Transfer to Ohio State)

Virginia Tech, Marquis Rankin (Transfer)

Wake Forest, Arnaud-William Adala Moto (Transfer)