Year one under Luke Loucks was a grind. It wasn’t pretty at times, but FSU won 11 of its last 15 games and pushed the number one team in the country (Duke) to the wire in the ACC Tournament. There were real signs of life by the end of the season.
Now, Loucks faces the challenge of doing it all over again, with six seniors moving on and multiple other players expected to hit the portal. The difference heading into year two? He’s not starting from scratch this time. There’s a system in place, returning pieces who know the culture, and a recruiting class that’s turning heads nationally.
FSU’s 2026 high school class is currently ranked ninth in the country and second in the ACC according to 247Sports Composite Team Rankings. The class features four-star center Marcis Ponder (nicknamed “Baby Shaq”), four-star wings Brandon Bass Jr. and Collin Paul, four-star guard Jasen Lopez, and reclassified four-star combo guard Martay Barnes out of Orlando. That is a serious haul for a program still finding its footing in the Loucks era, and it gives FSU a real foundation of talent to layer portal additions on top of.
Speaking of which, the portal session just opened, and the Noles are already three commitments deep. Let’s get caught up.
Shon Abaev | SF | 6’8″ | Freshman | Cincinnati
The first domino to fall was the biggest name. FSU landed the No. 22 overall recruit in the 2025 class, McDonald’s All-American Shon Abaev out of Cincinnati, after he visited Tallahassee over the weekend and committed Monday afternoon. He’s a 6’8″ wing from Broward County, Florida, which checks Loucks’ stated box of blanketing the state on the recruiting trail.
Abaev averaged 7.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists across 24 games (12 starts) as a true freshman with the Bearcats, scoring in double figures eight times and leading the team in scoring on four different occasions. The efficiency numbers were a mixed bag, shooting 33.5% from the field and just 25.7% from three, but freshman years for high-ceiling wing prospects at power programs are often messy. The talent is clearly there.
The honest take: Abaev is a project, and there’s no point dancing around it. The three-point percentage must jump considerably if he’s going to stay on the floor in ACC play. But the size, the scoring instinct, and the Florida ties all make this a worthwhile bet. FSU will need him to knock down perimeter shots in 2026-27, but there’s a foundation to work with here. Development is the name of the game for a sophomore wing with a McDonald’s All-American pedigree.
Kameron Taylor | G/F | 6’7″ | Sophomore | UNC Asheville
This one is a genuinely exciting pickup. Taylor led the Big South Conference in scoring at 18.9 points per game last season and was named to the all-league first team, putting up those numbers as just a sophomore. He also chipped in 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 52.9% inside the arc.
The three-point shooting (28.9% on the season) will get brought up, and it’s fair to note. Still, he shot 35% from three in Big South conference play, which is a more encouraging number and suggests some of the wider-sample struggles were against non-conference competition, where usage was different. He’s also not going to have to be the primary creator at FSU the way he was at Asheville, which should help shot quality considerably.
Taylor fended off interest from programs like Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, and Texas A&M to choose the Noles. That’s a real recruiting win. He’s a versatile bucket-getter who can play the 2 or the 3, and pairing him alongside Abaev gives FSU two lengthy, athletically gifted wings capable of creating their own offense. That was a genuine weakness a season ago when the team leaned heavily on Robert McCray V to generate everything.
Anthony Robinson II | PG | 6’3″ | Junior | Missouri
This one might be the most important get of the three. Robinson, a Tallahassee native, averaged 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game this season after spending three years at Missouri in the SEC. He’s an experienced, defensive-minded point guard, and he’s coming home.
Over his three seasons in Columbia, Robinson appeared in 96 games and accumulated 709 points, 241 assists, and 159 steals, earning an SEC All-Defensive Team selection along the way. The steals number and the All-Defensive distinction are the headline here. Loucks wants to build a defense-first identity, and Robinson fits that mold. His defensive mindset, alongside Thomas Bassong, is going to cause problems for opposing offenses.
The offensive game is a work in progress, but as a career 31.2% three-point shooter, he’s posted as high as 40% from deep in a single season, so the shooting touch is there when he’s clicking. FSU has four-star guard Martay Barnes coming in, but they needed someone with experience at the point, and Robinson has played 96 games in an SEC program. That experience is invaluable when you’re asking freshmen to compete in the ACC.
Coming home to Tallahassee clearly meant something to him. Hard not to root for that story.
Final Thoughts
Three commits in, and Luke Loucks has addressed two of the biggest needs on the roster in a hurry. You’ve got a high-upside wing in Abaev who needs polish, a proven scorer in Taylor who can contribute immediately, and a defensive-minded veteran floor general in Robinson who brings SEC experience and a hometown connection. Layer that on top of a top-ten recruiting class headlined by Ponder and Barnes, and year two is shaping up to look very different from year one.
The portal window is still young. FSU has nine scholarship players on the roster currently and is still targeting additional pieces, so there’s more to come. But the early returns suggest Loucks isn’t waiting around to build this thing. Stay tuned to your source for fan-focused FSU coverage here at Plant The Spear. Thanks for reading, and Go Noles!