Noles News: Softball looks to bounce back vs. Oklahoma

Recruiting

Florida State is holding its first round of camps in Tallahassee — resulting in an offer for local prospect Tylan Vickers out of Godby High School. The 2026 wide receiver, listed at 6-foot, 160 pounds, currently holds offers from Miami, Middle Tennessee State, Georgia State,Liberty, UMass and Florida A&M:

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)

Football

Wednesday kicked off the bi-annual welcoming of enrollees, starting with FSU newcomers running back Samuel Singleton Jr. and wide receivers Goldie Lawerence, Destyn Hill and Keon Coleman.

A fantastic latest episode of the Seminole Wrap, where Brian Pellerin, Jon Marchant and new co-host Ben Meyerson speak with The Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler about FSU’s ceiling in 2023 as well as:

• How has Jordan Travis progressed throughout his career? What areas does he still have to grow? And how does he rank compared to the rest of the college football quarterback class for 2024?
• What do newcomers like Michigan State wide receiver transfer Keon Coleman and South Carolina tight end transfer Jaheim Bell bring to the offense and how can Mike Norvell and Alex Atkins use them to unlock new ways to attack defenses?
• What’s been the key to success for Trey Benson since his arrival at FSU and how does he project to the next level?
• We know he has size and speed, but what separates Jared Verse from other defensive ends around the country?
• How do Coleman and Johnny Wilson work as one of the biggest wide receiver tandems in the country?
• LSU or Clemson: Which team is the toughest opponent on Florida State’s schedule in 2023?

Some very high praise from Jim Nagy (full tweet text quoted below, so you don’t have to go through like five different steps to read it):

No program in CFB had better offseason when it comes to retaining & acquiring talent than @FSUFootball so we expect them to be even better than last year’s 10-win team. Therefore it makes sense QB Jordan Travis has second-best preseason @HeismanTrophy odds (behind USC’s Caleb Williams). @seniorbowl saw Travis play live twice last year (Game 2 vs. LSU and later October vs. Clemson) and biggest takeaway from both games was his ability to do damage with his legs. Travis’ ability to extend plays and take off when nothing is there makes FSU’s spread difficult to defend (24 career rush TD).

While his decision-making, lower half mechanics, & overall accuracy must improve (and coaches say they saw growth in all those areas this spring), he did hit some timely deep shots and he showed clutch signs when his team needed it last year.

OC Alex Atkins’ offense will have ACC’s best veteran skill group when it comes to draftable NFL talent so @jordantrav13 could put up monster numbers this fall.

Former Florida State and current Carolina Panthers defensive end Brian Burns has become the first-ever Carolina player to wear zero:

This isn’t the multiverse, but your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will look slightly different this year.

Panthers outside linebacker Brian Burns has opted to change his jersey number to 0, making him the first player in team history to wear it.

The NFL changed the rules allowing players more latitude with single digits two years ago, and this offseason approved the use of zero as a standalone number for many players. Burns is now the 19th player in the league to adopt the number.

“I kind of was on the zero thing before everyone jumped on it,” Burns said. “Now it’s a common thing in the league. It feels good to know I’ll be the first Panther with it, though.”

While college linemen are allowed to wear it, and some defensive linemen have, Burns wasn’t eligible until he became an outside linebacker in the new 3-4 defensive scheme being implemented here.

“I figured since they’re changing my position technically, because of the defense we’re in now, it gives me the opportunity to do something new,” he said. I feel like it’s a lot of new around here. So I feel like, why not do it? It’s a new beginning.

“We’ve got a lot of new. A lot of new things going in our favor now; I really feel good about this year, and this team and what we’re doing.”

He also feels good about what he’ll look like, as one of the larger players to wear it (many of the rest are backs and receivers).

“It don’t look good (on the smaller players),” Burns said. “I’ve seen all shapes and sizes. I’ve seen it on the 300-pounders, I’ve seen it on the little guys, but I feel like I’m going to look the best; I’m not going to lie to you.”

He wore 99 at Florida State before the Panthers drafted him in the first round in 2019, but that was taken at the time by defensive tackle Kawann Short. He said he considered a different single-digit this offseason before reconsidering.

“I wasn’t ever forced into 53, but it wasn’t necessarily my number of choice,” he said. “I thought about 9 because I was 99 in college. But then we drafted Bryce Young, and I was like, ‘OK, never mind. I’ll let that be that.’”

Burns is coming off his second straight Pro Bowl appearance in his old 53. He is currently recovering from offseason ankle surgery and is expected to be ready for training camp.

Basketball

Softball

Florida State softball, after holding even with Oklahoma through the bulk of 3.5 innings, saw the Sooners break through in the fourth in an effort that eventually led to a 5-0 Oklahoma victory in game one of the Women’s College World Series.

FSU will try to win tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) to avoid elimination, with Oklahoma looking to extend its record-setting win streak to 53 and include a national title inside of it.

All Sports

Florida State track and field’s men’s 4×100 relay team recorded a season-best time of 38.27 to finish fourth in the semifinal heats, advancing to the NCAA Finals on the first day of the NCAA Outdoor National Championships:

FSU’s team of Taylor Banks, Ismael Kone, Amir Willis and Denzell Feagin will race for the National Championship on Friday at 8:02 p.m.

Amir Willis’ time of 10.07 in his heat of the men’s 100m dash was good for fifth place but was not among the qualifying times for the finals. Later in the evening, he posted a time of 20.29 in the 200 meters which also narrowly missed qualifying for the finals with a 13th-place finish. Ismael Kone was just one place behind him with a 20.36 clocking in the event and a 13th-place final finish.

James Rivera was 17th in the men’s 400 meter hurdles with a time of 50.20, which did not meet the minimum to move him into the NCAA finals.

Jeremiah Davis’ season also ended in the long jump with a seventh-place finish on a best jump of 7.88 meters.

The remainder of the championships will air on ESPN2 with Thursday coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m. and the final two days at 9:00 p.m.

Four Florida State Seminoles golfers — Charlotte Heath and Lottie Woad of the women’s team, Cole Anderson and Frederik Kjettrup of the men’s team — are taking part in the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup at the Laurel Valley Golf Club:

The four Seminoles in the event make FSU the only team in the country with four players in the annual competition between collegiate golfers representing the United States against an International Team.

Anderson will represent the U.S., while Heath, Kjettrup and Woad are set to represent the international side.

Heath and Woad are the fourth and fifth women’s players to represent the Seminole Women’s program in the event. Seminole All-Americans Amelia Williamson in 2022, Beatrice Wallin in 2021 and Frida Kinhult in 2019 have represented Amy Bond’s program in the event, which began in 2017. Robert Duck, a Seminole Assistant Coach, is a current member of the Arnold Palmer Cup selection committee.

Kjettrup is participating in the event for the second consecutive year, while Anderson makes his Palmer Cup debut in 2023. Kjettrup and Anderson give the Seminole men’s program seven participants in the event since 2007. He (2022, 2023) and Anderson (2023) join Jonas Blixt (2007, 2008), Rowan Caron (2015), Harry Ellis (2017) and Vincent Norrman (2020) as Seminole participants in the event.