FSU Men's Basketball opens preseason practice; ACC schedule released

Release from FSU Sports Information

The FSU men’s basketball team’s 20-game ACC schedule for the 2024-25 season begins with a road game at defending conference champion NC State (Dec. 7), features one home ACC game in December against Louisville (Dec. 21), its first ever conference road trip to California to play at conference members Cal (Jan. 22) and Stanford (Jan. 25), and a Big Monday game against North Carolina at the Tucker Center (Feb. 24) as the ACC released the conference schedules for all 18 basketball schools Tuesday.

FSU 2024-25 Men’s Basketball Schedule

The Seminoles’ 20-game ACC Schedule includes 10 games at the Tucker Center (Louisville, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, SMU), and 10 games on the road (at NC State, at Miami, at Clemson, at California, at Stanford, at Boston College, at Wake Forest, at Louisville, at Duke, at Virginia).

FSU’s schedule features each of the three newest members of the ACC (SMU at home; Cal and Stanford on the road). The Seminoles play Louisville, Miami, and Clemson twice each (home and away), five teams who played in the 2024 NCAA Tournament (Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, and Virginia) and seven conference teams who won at least 20 games last season.

The Seminoles play North Carolina and Duke (March 1) in consecutive games for the first time since defeating the Blue Devils (March 10, 2012 in the semifinals of the ACC Championship) and the Tar Heels (March 11, 2012 in the championship game of the 2012 ACC Championship) in back-to-back games in winning their first ACC Championship in school history in 2012.

“Because the ACC continues to get better each and every year, all of the teams in our league are going to be challenged throughout the conference schedule,” said FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton. “We are excited about our players and have improved in every facet of our team. We have a full rotation of players which allows us to play with the depth that allows us to get back to being who we are on both offense and defense.”

Hamilton enters the 2024-25 season with 192 career regular season ACC victories – tied for fourth in ACC history with former Maryland coach Gary Williams. Hamilton led the Seminoles to a victory over Miami on March 9, 2024 for his 192nd ACC win.

FSU’s 20-game ACC slate and its 11-game non-conference schedule gives the Seminoles 31 games total – 15 at home in the Tucker Center, 11 true road games, and five neutral site games. The Seminoles will play in 10 different states (Florida, Texas, Connecticut, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, California, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Virginia) and in three different cities within the state of Florida (Tallahassee, Sunrise, Coral Gables).

The Seminoles’ cross-country trip to play at Cal and at Stanford marks their second ever game against the Golden Bears (80-77 win on November 29, 2008 in Las Vegas) and their second ever game against Stanford (70-60 loss on November 25, 2022 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.). Florida State’s games at Cal and at Stanford mark the first time the Seminoles have played a game in the state of California since defeating Loyola-Marymount (74-63 on December 18, 2010 in Los Angeles).

Senior guard Jamir Watkins leads a talented group of Seminoles into Hamilton’s 23rd season at Florida State. Watkins (All-ACC Honorable Mention, team-leading 15.6 ppg, team-leading 6.0 rpg, team-leading 1.9 spg) enters the 2024-25 season with a 19-game double figure scoring streak. He is the only player who ranked in the ACC’s top-20 for scoring and rebounding who returns to play in the ACC for the 2024-25 season. Also returning to FSU’s lineup are lengthy forward Taylor Bol Bowen (3.1ppg, 2.6 rpg) and talented guard Chandler Jackson (60 career games played).

Hamilton welcomes an athletic group of newcomers including graduate transfer Bostyn Holt (12.3 ppg, 3.1 apg at South Dakota), 2024 Junior College All-American and National Defensive Player of the Year Malique Ewin (14.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg at South Plains Community College) and second-year transfer forward Jerry Deng (10.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg at Hampton in 2023-24) along with freshmen athletes Daquan Davis (17.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 5.8 apg at Overtime Elite) and AJ Swinton (8.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va.).

Hamilton and two FSU players spoke with the media Tuesday as preseason practice gets under way. Watch those interviews below:

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