Noles News: How much of an impact can FSU’s 2023 freshmen and transfer class have?

Recruiting

2025 tight end Nate Roberts, considered the No. 5 tight end in his class, reported a Florida State offer on Tuesday. The Washington, Oklahoma prospect is rated a four-star by the 247Sports Team composite and also plays baseball. Roberts has also reported offers from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Oklahoma Sooners, Alabama Crimson Tide, Louisville Cardinals, Texas A&M Aggies, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Michigan Wolverines and Penn State Nittany Lions, amongst others:

2025 four-star wide receiver Naeshaun Montgomery, who is considered the No. 12 wide receiver in his class, was offered by Florida State on Tuesday. Montgomery, who is listed at 6-foot, 160 pounds and plays for Cardinal Newman in South Florida, has also reported offers from the LSU Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats, Miami Hurricanes, Ohio State Buckeyes, Ole Miss Rebels, Stanford Cardinal, Florida Gators and USC Trojans, amongst others

Running back Javion Mallory, a 2026 running back out of Boca Raton, reported a Florida State offer on Tuesday — his offer list includes FIU, FAU, Georgia, Indiana, Oregon, Syracuse, Tennessee and USF:

2027 athlete Wesley Winn out of Bellflower, California also reported an FSU offer Tuesday. Winn’s offer list includes the Arizona Wildcats, Maryland Terrapins, UCF Knights and Michigan State Spartans, amongst others:

Football

Some guy named Bud Elliot (who sounds sort of familiar?) debuted his 2023 blue-chip ratio list on Tuesday — the teams who, due to signing more four and five stars than three and two, have a legitimate shot at winning the national title on paper.

Who are the 16 this year?

• Alabama: 90%
• Ohio State: 85%
• Georgia: 77%
• Texas A&M: 73%
• Clemson: 72%
• LSU: 71%
• Texas: 70%
• Oklahoma: 70%
• Oregon: 67%
• Notre Dame: 65%
• Florida: 64%
• Miami: 61%
• Penn State: 55%
• Michigan: 54%
• USC: 52%
• Auburn: 51%

For what it’s worth, when FSU was tabulated later in his first crack at adding transfers into the mix, it went from a 38% to 41% ratio — which is enough to speculate if the Seminoles are capable of shattering the standard of that 51% minimum needed to win a national title.

ESPN broke down the top 25 teams it believes brought in the most impactful combo of both freshmen and transfer portal players in 2023, ranking FSU No. 3:

Top impact newcomers: WR Keon Coleman (Michigan State transfer), CB Fentrell Cypress II (Virginia transfer), OL Jeremiah Byers (UTEP transfer), TE Jaheim Bell (South Carolina transfer), DL Braden Fiske (Western Michigan transfer)

Returning QB Jordan Travis lost several productive targets from a year ago, but the Seminoles, via the portal, added a potential weapon in Coleman. A big target at 6-foot-4, he was Michigan State’s leading receiver a year ago with 58 receptions, which would have led FSU as well, and he should pair nicely with top returning receiver Johnny Wilson (6-7). Bell, who flashed impact ability, could quickly become another key offensive weapon for a team looking to make a CFP run.

Talented QBs and WRs are useless without a good O-line, and FSU used the portal well to address losses upfront. The school added multiple players with starting experience in Keiondre Jones (22 starts at Auburn), Byers (30 starts at UTEP) and the versatile Casey Roddick (30 starts at Colorado), who has played multiple positions. FSU scored one of the biggest overall wins out of the portal with CB Cypress, who is coming off an all-conference season at Virginia.

FSU’s recruiting class, which was out of the top 15, didn’t carry much buzz, but the Noles added players to complement a strong portal haul. The O-line transfers should allow promising ESPN 300 OT Lucas Simmons a little more developmental time, but he has the physical tools to be a high-level multiyear starter. Wilson and Coleman bring experience and height, but the WR with the most impact potential in that position group could be ESPN 300 prospect Hykeem Williams, who also has nice length and brings game-breaking play speed, recording a blazing 22.24 mph MaxSpeed score.

The full list:

1. USC
2. Miami
3. Florida State
4. LSU
5. Colorado
6. Oregon
7. Oklahoma
8. Auburn
9. UCLA
10. Louisville
11. Ole Miss
12. TCU
13. Arkansas
14. Kentucky
15. Michigan
16. Tennessee
17. Florida
18. Wisconsin
19. Maryland
20. Arizona State
21. Ohio State
22. Georgia
23. Alabama
24. Washington
25. Indiana

Basketball

Florida State Seminoles head basketball coach Leonard Hamilton will be inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame this Thursday:

Hamilton played at Gaston College, where he set a school record by scoring 54 points in a game, and later at the University of Tennessee-Martin. He earned his Associates Degree from Gaston in 1968, his Bachelor’s Degree in physical education from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1971 and his Master’s Degree in Physical and Health Education from Austin Peay State University in 1973.

A native of Gastonia, N.C. Hamilton played baseball, basketball and football at the city’s old all-African-American Highland High School. He then became one of the first two African-American athletes in Gaston College history when he played for the school in the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. He also helped Gaston College advance to its first NJCAA national tournament competition when it participated in the 1968 NJCAA Region 10 playoffs.

Hamilton scored 971 points in his two-year career at Gaston College, highlighted by a single-game, school-record 54-point effort during his senior season.

He’s the first Florida State coach to guide the school to nine consecutive postseason appearances, and his 2012 ACC tournament championship was the first in school history and the first for an African-American coach in ACC history. In 2020, his team won Florida State’s first ACC regular season championship.

Hamilton, the winningest coach in the history of Florida State men’s basketball and the fifth all-time winningest coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history, has been a college head coach for 33 years.

Hamilton has won UPI National Coach of the Year (1995), Big East Coach of the Year (1995, 1999), ACC Coach of the Year (2009, 2012, 2020) and the prestigious Ben Jobe Award (2021). The only coach to be named coach of the year in both the Big East and ACC, Hamilton’s teams have made the Sweet 16 four times and the Elite Eight once.

Baseball

Softball

It’s gameday — Florida State softball is set to take on the Oklahoma Sooners in game one of the Women’s College World Series championship round. FSU has won 33 of its last 35 games while the Sooners are riding a record 51-game win streak.

Both squads are 3-0 so far in the WCWS — some notes, via FSU Sports Info:

• This will be the 18th meeting between Florida State and Oklahoma.
• The two teams met earlier this year in Norman where OU took a 5-4 win.
• This will be the third time the two teams have met in the postseason (1994, 2021) and the second time the teams have met in the Women’s College World Series National Championship.
• The Seminoles are 108-76 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Seminoles are making their 12th appearance in the Women’s College World Series which is the third-most among this year’s WCWS field.
• The Seminoles are 22-21 all-time at the Women’s College World Series.
• The Seminoles have now reached the championship series in their last three trips to Oklahoma City.
• This is the 35th time the Seminoles have qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
• The Seminoles have qualified for 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
• In three games, the Noles have given up just two earned runs for 0.70 ERA.
• The Seminoles are led by senior ace Kathryn Sandercock who has allowed just three earned runs in 35.0 innings of work in the NCAA Tournament. Sandercock is 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament and recorded two saves.

Longest Postseason Win Streaks in Program History

6 – 2023

6 – 2018

5 – 2021

5 – 2021

5 – 2016

4 – 2017

4 – 2002

4 – 1990

Most WCWS Wins Since 2018

19 – Oklahoma (19-8)

14 – Florida State (14-4)

11 – UCLA (11-6)

6 – Washington (6-6)

5 – Alabama (5-6)

5 – Oklahoma State (5-8)

How to watch: FSU and Oklahoma kick off the championships round of the Women’s College World Series on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET, with the game set to be broadcast on ESPN.

All Sports

Florida State track and field is well represented at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this week, with 19 members heading to Austin:

FSU’s 14th-ranked men’s program qualified 10 participants for eight events at the East Regional two weeks ago in Jacksonville, Fla., and the women’s team will travel nine participants for six events.

The championships will air on the ESPN family of networks with Wednesday coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. ESPN2 will air the meet Thursday-Friday beginning at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 9:00 p.m. the final two days.

Five-time All-American Jeremiah Davis will compete in two individual events at the NCAA’s after qualifying in third place in the long jump and sixth in the triple jump at the East Regional. Davis, who is a three-time ACC Field Performer of the Year, is expected to contend for the national title in both events. He was runner-up for the national title in the long jump in 2022 and placed third at the indoor championships this season.

Amir Willis will race in both the 100 and 200 meters as well as on the Seminoles’ 4×100 relay team. Willis finished fifth at the East Regional in the 200 meters with a time of 20.05 and ninth in the 100 meters in 9.99.

The 4×100 relay team punched their ticket to the championships with a time of 39.30 and fourth place finish during qualifying. Joining Willis as possible legs on the relay are Ismael Kone, who will compete in the 200 meters as well, Taylor Banks, DaeQwan Butler, Denzell Feagin and JoVaughn Martin.

Milton Ingraham will also be a favorite to challenge for a title in the men’s discus. Ingraham’s throw of 59.76 meters was third best at the East Regional and among the best in the country this year.

FSU’s men’s distance group will be represented by David Mullarkey whose time of 13:55.29 was good for seventh place and a ticket to the national title race.

James Rivera qualified in the men’s 400 meter hurdles with a 12th place finish and a time of 50.97.

Distance star Alyson Churchill reached the NCAA finals by recording FSU’s best women’s individual finish at the NCAA East Regional checking in at third in the 5,000 meters in a time of 15:33.83.

Freshman sensation Dajaz DeFrand will compete in the 100 meters after finishing fourth in qualifying with a personal best time of 11.05. She just missed advancing in the 200 meters as well finishing just 12/100ths of a second away from a qualifying spot.

Stella Weinberg reached the NCAA Championships in the women’s javelin with a personal best 51.16 meter throw that secured third place at the East Regional. The mark is now the sixth-best in FSU history.

Alexandra Webster will be in the field for the 100 meter hurdles after posting a personal best time of 13.00 at the qualifier and earning an 11th-place finish.

ACC Outdoor Champion Caisa-Marie Lindfors finished 12th in the discus with a throw of 52.70 meters to reach the NCAA’s.

FSU’s women’s 4×100 relay team traveled DaFrand, Webster, Faith Banks, Eva Klein, Tyra Wilson and Kaniya Johnson after finishing 12th in qualifying in Jacksonville.

FSU men’s golf set a program record by having four athletes named as Division I PING All-Americans — Junior Brett Roberts (Second Team), redshirt junior Cole Anderson (Third Team), junior Frederik Kjettrup (Honorable Mention) and freshman Luke Clanton (Honorable Mention):

The record also coincides with FSU breaking a new mark with four All-ACC selections in 2023, which were Anderson, Kjettrup, Roberts and freshman Jack Bigham.

Roberts continued his outstanding career with arguably his best season yet, shooting a career-low 70.59 and -0.62 average vs. par. The Coral Springs, Fla., native tied for seventh during the four rounds of stroke play at the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz., and placed in the Top 10 in six of his 12 tournaments played in the 2022-23 academic year.

Roberts becomes just the third three-time All-American in FSU men’s golf history, joining Nolan Henke (1985, 1986, 1987) and John Pak (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021).

Anderson etches his name as one of the 38 All-Americans in program history after a career year earning third-team honors. The Camden, Maine, native shot a career-low 70.62 scoring average along with a -0.59 average vs. par, along with winning his first collegiate tournament at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial. Anderson led the Seminoles with 27 rounds at par or less and was one of three on the team with double-digit rounds in the 60s (10).

Kjettrup picked up his second straight honorable mention All-America honor after helping the Seminoles to the NCAA Championships Match Play Semifinals. The Denmark native recorded a 70.94 scoring average and led FSU with 16 rounds recorded in the 60s. He won the Watersound Invitational earlier this season against a very competitive field.

Clanton had an enormous late-season run to pick up honorable mention All-America honors as well. The native of Hialeah, Fla., won the NCAA Morgan Hill Regional at The Institute Golf Club in Calfornia, the first FSU freshman to ever win an NCAA Regional. He entered the NCAA Championships with nine straight rounds at par or less, and picked up the clinching win in the NCAA Match Play Quarterfinals when he defeated his opponent from Illinois, 1UP.

Former Florida State men’s golfers Hank Lebioda (2012-16 at FSU) and Vincent Norrman (2020-21) have qualified for the US Open:

Lebioda shot 8-under in two rounds played at both the Northwood Club and the Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas to earn a spot, while Norrman was among three golfers who qualified at Lambton Golf & Country Club in Toronto – carding an 8-under.

Lebioda’s qualification came in unbelievable fashion – he used five consecutive birdies to end his final round on holes 14-18 to gain five shots and earn one of the last spots. After shooting a 68 in his opening round, he was tied for 34th before finishing strong with a final-round 65. Lebioda also had to get past a 5-for-2 playoff for one of the final spots.

Norrman used a final-round 63 in Canada to spark his advancement, playing in a competitive 27-player field that also included Jimmy Walker, recent PGA Championship sensation Michael Block and world amateur No. 1 Ludvig Aberg.

Lebioda, a Winter Springs, Fla., native, was a two-time All-American for the Seminoles who bookended his career as the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2013 and the ACC Player of the Year in 2016. He earned his PGA TOUR card in 2019, having played in 109 events.

Norrman, from Stockholm, Sweden, spent one season as a redshirt senior at FSU and helped the Seminoles earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Championships. Norrmann was chosen as a PING! Second Team All-American in his lone year with FSU, finishing with a 70.81 scoring average. He began his PGA TOUR career in 2022.

The U.S. Open field for the Seminoles will also include five-time Major champion Brooks Koepka, who owns three PGA Championships (2018, 2019, 2023) and two U.S. Open titles (2017, 2018).