Noles News: What’s FSU’s floor, ceiling in 2023?

Recruiting

Who are the 10 recruits you need to know for the 2024 recruiting class? Our recruiting trio Josh Pick, Tim Scribble and NoleThruandThru put their heads together and came up with a list to get you up to speed.

2024 defensive end Elias Williams out of Hudson, Florida reported an FSU offer on Wednesday — he’s also been offered by the UCF Knights, Miami Hurricanes, Kansas Jayhawks and Cincinnati Bearcats, amongst others.

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.

Class of 2024 commitments

QUARTERBACK: 4 star Luke Kromenhoek (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 5 star Kam Davis (GA)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Camdon Frier (FL)

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

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Keishawn Mashburn (FL)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jamorie Flagg (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star Jordan Pride (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star CJ Heard (GA)

KICKER: Jake Weinberg (FL)

Football

What’s the floor, ceiling, and biggest variable for Florida State football in 2023? Bill Connelly took a look at each of the top 25 teams in ESPN’s way-too-early rankings, saying No. 4 FSU’s ceiling is 11-1 and 8-4 is the floor, with a 19% chance of finishing 11-1 or better.

As for the biggest variable?

Expectations. Now we get to the teams in the “11-1 to 8-4 or 7-5” range. After finishing the season on a six-game winning streak — and leading the nation in returning production — the Noles are all but guaranteed to start the season in the AP top 10 for the first time since 2017. That they’re projected only 11th in SP+ says they might not have the overall roster that other contenders do, however, and they still face trips to Clemson and Florida, a game vs. LSU in Orlando and likely home run swings from others.

Basketball

No. 24 Florida State women’s basketball is set to host Syracuse tonight, with the matchup designated as this year’s Paint It Pink game.

Some game notes, via FSU Sports Info:

• Prior to Thursday’s game, graduate forward Valencia Myers will be recognized for breaking Florida State’s career games played record with 139. Myers set the mark in FSU’s last game at Virginia Tech on Sunday, eclipsing Brittany Brown’s previous record of 138 (2013-17).
• A win over Syracuse on Thursday would mark FSU’s 10th ACC win of the season. It would mark eight consecutive seasons that the Seminoles have amassed double-digit wins in one of the nation’s most competitive conferences.
• Freshman Ta’Niya Latson has 590 total points this season, sitting fifth on the FSU single-season list. With 10 more points, she will become just the fourth Seminole to reach 600 points in a season. Latson would join Sue Galkantas (710 in 1981-82; 627 in 1980-81), Natasha Howard (675 in 2013-14) and Roneeka Hodges (615 in 2004-05).
• With 166 team blocks, the Seminoles have matched the program record for most blocks in a season with the 2006-07 team. Their next blocked shot will mark a new program record.
• Makayla Timpson and Taiyanna Jackson (Kansas) are the only two players nationally whom rank in the Top 10 in BOTH blocks and field goal percentage.
• Florida State is out-scoring opponents on average 87.4-59.4 this season at home.

Meanwhile, the men’s team was blown out 95-54 on the road by the Clemson Tigers, falling to 8-19, (6-10 ACC) and matching the most losses in a season under head coach Leonard Hamilton.

From Matt Minnick:

Two and a half weeks ago Florida State was in prime position to upset the then first place in the conference Clemson Tigers in the Tucker Center, leading much of the second half before snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with an atrociously bad late-game foul execution.

What is there really to say? FSU’s defense cannot create disruption and the coaches don’t seem inclined to try something else. My biggest concern at this point is all this losing becoming a learned skill. Winning is a skill and so is losing. Coaches love to talk about having older, experienced players, but what if those players have no idea what kind of tenacity, consistency, and selflessness is required to win at this level?

Baseball

Who is ready for some Florida State baseball?

Softball

It’s going to be a busy weekend of big games for Florida State softball, set to take part in the 2023 TaxAct Clearwater Invitational.

From FSU Sports Info:

Team 40 will begin their stay with a late Thursday afternoon matchup against the 15th ranked Arizona Wildcats at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The Noles have faced Arizona eight times in the past few years with a 6-2 record since 2008. The Wildcats are one of the most successful teams in college softball history with 8 national championships and 25 trips to the WCWS.

The Seminoles will then face the 4th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks for a Friday afternoon game at 1 p.m. on ESPNU. The two have only ever met on three occasions where FSU came out on top each time. Arkansas has risen up the polls on the heels of back-to-back conference championships and three Super Regional appearances in the past five seasons.

Saturday morning will see a heavyweight bout between Florida State and the 2nd ranked UCLA Bruins at 10 a.m. on ESPNU. Despite losing the first eight games of the matchup’s history, the Noles have rattled off 9 of the last 12 matchups against UCLA, proving to be a strong outfit against the most successful team in college softball.

They’ll end the invitational with a Sunday afternoon game against the No. 22 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ followed by an evening matchup with 12th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at 5 p.m. on ESPN. FSU has only faced Louisiana twice since 2006 and have won six straight meetings against the Tide dating back to 2018.

All Sports

Florida State men’s swimmer Yordan Yanchev won bronze in the 500 free on the second night of the 2023 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships.

From FSU Sports Info:

Working from lane two, Yanchev began to pace the field around the halfway mark. As the top-seeded swimmers made their move, Yanchev turned for home in the final 50 yards, slightly in third place.

Yanchev surged to the finish for bronze, touching at 4:12.97, lowering his own FSU record he set last season (4:14.16)

The Sandankski, Bulgaria, native became the first medalist in the race since Mateo DeAngulo won gold back in 2012, before the ACC expanded to host Louisville, Notre Dame, and Pitt.

In addition to Yanchev, Peter Varjasi finished fourth in the 200 IM and Samantha Vear was also fourth in the women’s 1-meter diving event.

Florida State beach volleyball will start off as the No. 2 in the country in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. According to FSU Sports Info, the Seminoles are the only program in the country that has made every AVCA and NCAA Tournament since the inception of collegiate beach volleyball in 2012.

FSU dropped some stats on its latest admitted class — the Class of 2027, in case you wanted to reflect on how old you are today and also how you would probably not be able to get into Florida State in this day and age:

Students admitted for Fall 2023 had an average core GPA of 4.4, (4.3 – 4.6 middle 50th), an ACT composite score of 31 (29 – 32 middle 50th), and an SAT total score of 1370 (1310 – 1430 middle 50th). Seventy-six percent of the admitted students earned all A & B grades in a rigorous academic curriculum.