Noles News: Revenue discussions take center stage at ACC meetings

Recruiting

JUCO safety Ashlynd Barker, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound prospect out of Iowa Western Community College, committed to the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday:

He will have four years of eligibility remaining — he’s currently unranked by recruiting services and holds other offers from the Oregon State Beavers, Ball State, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, and Illinois State.

Not much is known about Barker since he redshirted last season and didn’t play his junior season in high school due to COVID cancellation, but we do know that his measurables are legitimate and he reports a 4.4 40 yard dash and a 4.0 GPA as a full qualifier. The FSU coaching staff likes his potential and prioritized him over the last couple of weeks.

You can catch up on all the latest Florida State football recruiting news and pick the brains of our recruiting staff in the latest edition of our recruiting thread.

QUARTERBACK: 4 star Luke Kromenhoek (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 4 star Kam Davis (GA)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Camdon Frier (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Tawaski “TJ” Abrams (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Lawayne McCoy (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star BJ Gibson (GA)

TIGHT END: 5 star Landen Thomas (GA)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jamorie Flagg (FL)

LINEBACKER: 3 star Jayden Parrish (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star CJ Heard (GA)

KICKER: 3 star Jake Weinberg (FL)

Football

For the ninth time in the last 11 seasons, Florida State will been featured in primetime on Labor Day weekend — FSU’s matchup vs. LSU has been announced as a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Sunday, September 3rd from Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

It’s funny what some strategic leaking to the media will do, huh? After reports surfaced that Florida State, Clemson, Miami, UNC, NC State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech had been meeting to discuss potential ways out of the ACC’s Grant of Rights contract, what was supposed to be a brief discussion about revenue solutions took over this week’s ACC spring meetings taking place in Amelia Island.

From ESPN:

Those reports were met with intense frustration inside the AD’s meeting room, with multiple members admitting to raised voices and a few profanities exchanged that Miami’s Dan Radakovich chalked up as “an airing of grievances.”

In the end, however, those frustrations helped to clarify the serious concerns that Alford, Radakovich and others have over the league’s future, given a massive revenue gap with the Big Ten and SEC that projects to be as much as $40 million annually in the coming years.

The ACC has yet to report its 2021-22 revenue distribution, but several ADs said they expected about $43 million per team. When the Big Ten’s new $7 billion TV deal begins in July, teams are likely to receive in excess of $70 million annually. The SEC’s distribution would similarly outpace the ACC’s.

From Sports Illustrated:

The first day of meetings instead went nearly 70 minutes over time and when finished, administrators and commissioner Jim Phillips hurriedly left the room and walked past reporters with heads down and little in the way of comment beyond a quip about needing to get to dinner, an agreement they made before breaking for the day, according to a source.

Florida State athletic director Micheal Alford who, along with Clemson’s Graham Neff, have been the most vocal in the need to change the revenue system, was complimentary about the behind-closed-door talks after Day 2. But it’s not expected that the athletic directors will vote on a proposal before they leave Florida, though substantial progress has been made towards a solution.

“These conversations that we’ve had in the last two days have been the most open and transparent discussions that we’ve had since I’ve been in this conference,” Alford said. “Now, I haven’t been in the conference very long, but talking to others who have been here for many years, they’ve commented that as well. They’ve never had this open transparent discussion amongst the ADs and the commissioner and the commissioner and his staff. The dialogue’s been great. People understand the issues, they’re really taking a look at how we’re gonna fix this model that we have in the ACC that would allow us to compete amongst our peers.”

“There’s not a magic number. Really, we’re looking to make sure we’re competitive. You look at the revenue shares of other leagues and how they’re gonna invest it and you need to be able to stay up to par with some of the changes they’re gonna do and how they’re gonna use that revenue. We’re the third-best media agreement right now, we want to stay the third-best. We’ve been able to compete with them being the third-best.”

Any new revenue model the athletic directors settle on would have to also be approved by the conference’s board of directors, composed of the 15 presidents and chancellors of ACC schools including Notre Dame (which competes in the conference for all sports except football and ice hockey). It would take the form of a merit-based payout system Alford referred to as “success initiatives,” and it is highly unlikely any of the payout would come from the TV revenue the league earns from ESPN, creating a base for every school. Instead, whatever new model is decided on would likely pay out from the pool including NCAA basketball tournament, bowl, expanded College Football Playoff and other money the league takes in.

Basketball

With the spring transfer portal window closed, we’ve got a pretty solid idea of what the 2023-24 Florida State basketball roster will look like — and our Michael Rogner took the time to give you an early preview.

Baseball

In its 2023 home finale, Florida State baseball’s offense came alive to secure a decisive 7-3 victory against Kennesaw State:

James Tibbs and Titan Kamaka led the charge, with Kamaka contributing five RBIs on two doubles and a sacrifice fly (going 2-for-4 on the night). The FSU offense also drew six walks and struck out eight times, consistently putting pressure on the pitchers from Kennesaw State.

All Sports

Florida State woman's golf freshman Lottie Woad, who was named the ACC Freshman of the Year earlier this season, has been named as one of five finalists for the Division I WGCA Freshman of the Year Award:

Woad finished in 13th place at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at the Augusta National Golf Club as she played in the event for the first time in her career. She carded a 3 under par score of 69 in round two and carded an even par 72 in the third and final round to finish with a 2 over par score of 218 (77-69-72). Woad finished the ANWA as one of just 13 players in the field of 72 who carded final scores of 218 or better.

Woad leads the Seminoles this season with her low round of 65 in the Schooner Fall Classic and with her two individual wins. She is tied for the team lead with seven top-10 finishes. She has carded 12 of her 28 rounds in the 60’s (.429percent), has finished as Florida State’s leading golfer in seven of the Seminoles’ 10 events, has carded two eagles, and is 3-0 in match play entering the NCAA Championship Finals.

Florida State, which finished fifth at the NCAA Raleigh Regional, is seeded No. 8 in the 30-team field at the NCAA Championship Finals.

No. 2 seed Florida State men’s golf is holding steady in second place in NCAA Regional play:

The Seminoles shot 8-over in their second round and are 1-over for the tournament, just three shots off the lead in second place.

Freshman Luke Clanton is tied atop the player leaderboard at 4-under (70-70), shooting 2-under for the second straight round. Clanton is tied with NC State’s Maximilian Steinlechner.

The Hialeah, Fla., native was one of five golfers to shoot under par on Tuesday, with all 13 teams shooting above par for the day. Baylor carded the best score of any team in the second round at 6-over.

Florida State track and field men’s field specialist Jeremiah Davis and women’s sprinter Dajaz DeFrand were named the ACC’s Most Valuable Performers after the conference championships:

DeFrand, a freshman competing in her first outdoor conference meet, was the ACC Champion in both the 100 and 200 meters leading to her selection as the ACC Women’s Track Most Valuable Performer.

Davis, who is among the favorites for the NCAA Championship in both the long and triple jump, won the ACC title in the long jump and was second in the triple en route to being named the ACC Men’s Most Valuable Performer. Davis was also the MVP of the ACC Indoor Championships earlier this year.

The Seminoles took home seven individual ACC Championships over the three-day conference meet. In addition to the three won between the MVPs, Amir Willis was the ACC men’s 100 meter champion, Milton Ingraham won the discus, Alexandra Webster finished first in the 100 hurdles and Caisa-Marie Lindfors was the ACC Champion in the women’s discus.

In addition, FSU had six first team All-ACC performances with Ismael Kone earning the honor in the 100 meters, Amir Willis in the 200 meters, James Rivera in the 400 hurdles, Amani Heaven in the shot put, Jeremiah Davis in the triple jump and the men’s 4×100 relay team.