It's been one of those weeks where you genuinely don't know which sport to watch first. The men's basketball team played the most gut-wrenching game of the Luke Loucks era. The baseball team is ranked and opening ACC play as you read this. Softball is rolling on an 11-game win streak. And football? Spring ball got underway Monday with a quarterback battle that could define the program's direction for the next several years. Let's get into it.
🏀 Basketball So Close It Hurt
Robert McCray V's buzzer-beating three rimmed out. That's the end of the story, really, but it doesn't come close to capturing what FSU basketball served up Thursday night in Charlotte.
Down a point with the ball, the Noles set up McCray for the shot that would have sent shockwaves through the entire college basketball world. It hit iron. Duke escaped 80-79. And just like that, FSU's 2025-26 season was over.
Make no mistake, though: this team gave No. 1 Duke everything it could handle. The Seminoles led 44-43 at halftime, pushed the lead to eight with 13 minutes left, and cut it back to one twice in the final 90 seconds. A 19-2 Duke run over a five-minute stretch mid-second half was ultimately the difference, but even then, FSU wouldn't quit. The game featured 16 lead changes and nine ties. Lajae Jones dropped 28 and McCray added 25. Chauncey Wiggins chipped in 13. The Noles shot 51.9 percent from the field.
Worth noting: Duke was playing shorthanded, missing starters Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba II due to injury. Isaiah Evans carried the Blue Devils with 32 points and Cameron Boozer added 23. FSU's defense held Duke to 43.8 percent from the field, and the Noles won the fast break points battle. The layup line (13-of-18 for Duke inside) and rebounds (Duke 46 - FSU 25) is where it got away from them.
A tough way to finish that game, but I am so proud of these guys. The way they battled throughout this match, but most importantly the way they battled through the second half of this season.
— Head Coach Luke Loucks, postgameHere's the thing Noles fans need to take away from this season: this team was 7-11 and 0-5 in ACC play in mid-January. Under Loucks, they won 11 of their final 15 games, went to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, and nearly knocked off the No. 1 team in the country. This season, they lost to Duke by 4 and 1, Florida by 2 and Virginia (who they had beat) by 3. Those are all Top 10 teams. They have quality wins over Miami, Clemson, Cal, SMU and Stanford, who may all end up being tournament teams.
This is a program trending in the right direction. The roster returns meaningful talent, they have a top 10 class in the fold, Loucks has clearly earned the trust of his guys, excited the fan base, and the Noles proved they can play with anybody in the ACC on any given night. The NIT/postseason conversation is what it is, but the bigger story here is that FSU basketball looks like it's coming back. Genuinely.
⚾ Baseball No. 20 and Ready for the ACC
FSU baseball opens ACC play this weekend, and the timing couldn't feel more right. The Noles come in ranked No. 20 nationally after going a perfect 9-0 on their home stand at Dick Howser Stadium, capped by a three-game sweep of Northern Kentucky. The only blemish since? A top-25 loss to rival Florida on March 10 that snapped that nine-game win streak. Painful, but it doesn't change the big picture.
The ACC opener takes place at No. 12 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, with Game 1 tonight at 6 p.m., Game 2 Saturday at 4 p.m. and Game 3 on Sunday airing on ACC Network. The Demon Deacons came in hot with a 15-game win streak of their own, though they dropped a 10-4 decision to Coastal Carolina on Tuesday let a little air out of their balloon. This is a legitimate top-25 matchup, and it's the exact kind of series the Noles need to validate where they stand nationally.
The pitching staff is what gives this team a ceiling, although it could be more consistent. Wes Mendes and Trey Beard are bonafide weekend caliber starters. John Abraham out of the bullpen has been electric, posting a 0.66 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 13.2 innings. Bryson Moore is 2-0 as a starter and struck out a career-best seven hitters in his last outing. The question going into ACC play is whether the offense can deliver with runners on base in tighter situations. RISP struggles have been a recurring theme this season, and conference pitching will expose that even further if it doesn't get cleaned up.
Still, this is a ranked FSU baseball team opening conference play. That's a sentence we like writing. The next eight weeks will tell us a lot about whether this group has ACC Tournament and Regional aspirations, or if the regular-season ranking is a bit ahead of where the body of work actually is. Friday's first pitch kicks things off.
🥎 Softball Isa Torres Is Doing What?!
Let's lead with the number that stopped us cold this week: Isa Torres is hitting .597 on the season. That's not a typo. She's tied for the best batting average in the country, and she set a school record on March 6 at Coastal Carolina by going 6-for-6 in a seven-inning game, the first Division I player to do that since 2017. The sophomore shortstop was the preseason top-ranked shortstop in the country by both D1Softball and Softball America, and she has been every bit of that and more.
The No. 10 Seminoles extended their win streak to 11 games Thursday night with an 8-4 midweek win over South Alabama, improving to 22-4 on the season, and they open ACC play this weekend against Syracuse at JoAnne Graf Field. Friday's first pitch is at 6 p.m., with games Saturday and Sunday to follow.
Torres gets the headlines, but Jaysoni Beachum is quietly having a monster season of her own. A .379 average with four home runs, 28 RBI, and a .547 on-base percentage that's fifth nationally. She's drawing nearly one walk per game. That kind of on-base production in front of and behind Torres makes the FSU lineup genuinely dangerous from top to bottom.
One more note: Florida State is retiring Lacey Waldrop's jersey this Friday before the Syracuse game. A fitting moment for one of the greatest pitchers in program history.
The four losses this team has taken came against Tennessee, Texas Tech (twice), and Alabama. In other words, the only teams beating FSU are the ones also contending for national championships. If that holds through conference play, this program is a serious Women's College World Series threat. Coach Lonni Alameda has loaded this roster, and right now it looks like all the pieces are clicking at exactly the right time.
🏈 Football Spring Ball, the QB Battle & a Program at a Crossroads
FSU football opened spring practice Monday, and it's hard to overstate how consequential the next few weeks are for this program. Coming off back-to-back losing seasons with a combined 7-17 record, Mike Norvell enters his seventh year at FSU knowing that patience is running thin. Today's third practice of camp is also the first one in full pads, which means the real evaluation begins now.
The most important storyline: the quarterback battle between Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels and sophomore Kevin Sperry. Norvell has spoken about Daniels as the early frontrunner, which tracks given that Daniels was brought in specifically to stabilize the position. Sperry, though, is a legitimate prospect who could start anywhere in the country if given the chance. Freshman Jaden O'Neal, who many expected to contribute to depth this spring, is out for the entire year with a pre-enrollment injury, and JUCO transfer Malachi Marshall won't arrive until summer, which adds even more urgency to how Daniels and Sperry perform.
The roster itself is massive in terms of turnover. Fifty of the 98 players in camp are newcomers, with 23 NCAA transfers bringing real collegiate experience to a depth chart that was thin in several spots last fall. Early observers on the ground have noted a cultural shift in the energy around the program, which is encouraging even if it's early. Norvell has also taken on play-calling duties following Gus Malzahn's retirement, going back to his offensive coordinator roots. That alone is worth watching closely, because it changes the entire dynamic of how the offense is installed and who the quarterback communicates with.
For me, the biggest thing to monitor through April isn't just who wins the quarterback job. It's whether this new offensive staff, with all these transfer pieces, can establish an actual identity on that side of the ball. FSU has been frustratingly inconsistent offensively for two years running. The talent level is higher now than it's been since 2023. The coaching alignment looks better. But we've heard versions of that before. Show us in the fall.
Key names to watch in spring: wide receiver Duce Robinson remains the unquestioned WR1. Jayvan Boggs could push for the WR2 role with Micahi Danzy focusing on track. On defense, true freshman Darryon Williams was a four-star prospect out of Tampa's Plant High and could make noise early. Edge rusher Darryll Desir and Tackle Kevin Wynn are back and healthy, which matters on that side of the ball.
📅 Coming Up This Weekend
It's going to be a busy weekend for Noles fans, and honestly that's exactly how we want it. Two ranked FSU teams opening conference play on the same day while football puts pads on for the first time? There's a lot to be excited about right now, even with Thursday's heartbreak still stinging a little.
Stay tuned to your source for fan-focused FSU coverage here at Plant The Spear. Thanks for reading, and Go Noles!