Florida State’s coaching staff watched countless hours of film on transfers this spring. Sebastian Rancik kept jumping off the screen as a player the Seminoles wanted.
“This was one guy we identified pretty early in the process as a very special player,” Loucks said. “He can do a little bit of everything. He can shoot, pass, dribble. He can attack off the bounce. They played him in pick-and-rolls at times at the 4 (power forward) and 3 (small forward) spot with Colorado. He’s versatile.
“To me he is an NBA player that still has a lot of room to grow, which is exciting. What jumped out is his defense. For a 6-11 European, we watched some full games. And obviously we watched thousands of clips on him.”
The problem is that all the other coaches were watching Rancik, too. Loucks and assistant coach Jim Moran had an advantage in the recruiting process as both knew his dad, Martin Rancik, who played professionally in five countries and is now entering his seventh season as a Chicago Bulls assistant coach.
But how could FSU’s staff separate from the pack? There would be plenty of hoops blue bloods and all of them had deeper pockets than the Seminoles, although Loucks spent the offseason ahead of year 2 fundraising to expand his player acquisition budget. Loucks said FSU general manager Michael Fly’s idea soon came to fruition: Loucks and Fly would jump on a plane to visit Rancik’s mom, Bibiana Bohucka, in Slovakia.
“It was the best decision we had probably in the whole portal,” Loucks said. “Not just to try to get the deal done but to try to grow those relationships with families of the things we say we believe in. We want to show it.”
As it turned out, Fly’s passport wasn’t up to date. But Loucks and Moran departed Tallahassee for Bratislava, Slovakia. When Rancik got on a FaceTime call with his mom, he was able to see a pair of FSU coaches had made the trip back home.
“I thought it was awesome,” Rancik said. “It obviously showed how much he cared for me and tried to get me to come here to Florida State. Him flying home to see my mom and see my family just meant so much. It was really funny when I called my mom and she was with coach Luke and Jim.”
Rancik averaged 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore at Colorado. He also shot 86 percent from the free-throw line.
While he was sidelined for a chunk of the summer due to tendinitis, which he’s now fully recovered after time off and work with the Seminoles’ training staff, Rancik has shown in FSU’s practices that he has a smooth jumper and can dribble to the basket to get buckets. Fans will get their first look at Rancik on Saturday when he plays with the Seminoles in an exhibition against Mississippi State at Pensacola at 6 p.m.
Rancik’s skill set is easy to see. He picked FSU because of its NBA-like system and how the coaches would develop him.
“What I really like about it is we play position-less basketball,” Rancik said. “I’m going to have the ball in my hands a good amount and be able to make decisions. We shoot a lot of 3s and just play a great, effective style of basketball. That’s what I was attracted to.”
Rancik grew up around basketball, with his parents helping him develop, and he often watched his dad play in countries like Spain, Greece and Italy. Basketball is third to hockey and soccer back home, but it’s the sport he loves.
“My dad played basketball, he was a professional my whole life,” Rancik said. “I traveled a lot so basketball has been a part of my life since I was a kid. As long as I can remember, basketball has been in my life.”
The Seminoles made size and shooting a priority ahead of Loucks’ second season. FSU took seventh place in the ACC in 2025-26, finishing the season 11-4, and the coaches knew they had to rebuild the roster with the core players’ eligibility expiring.
Rancik is one of the biggest pieces as FSU assembled the roster for the 2026-27 season. FSU’s staff was able to show it is developing players in Tallahassee for the NBA — Lajae Jones was drafted by Golden State while Robert McCray is in camp this preseason with Oklahoma City — and can build relationships to recruit talented players against the hoops blue bloods.
“We went all in on Sebastian,” Loucks said. “We were going up against some heavy hitters. We were going up against some of the best teams historically in college basketball. There was a laundry list of some of the best teams throwing crazy money at him and rightfully so because that’s his value.”
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