Transcript 0:00 [rock music] Welcome to Seminole Sidelines. 0:31 Hope you're having a great Monday. A, uh, rainy, windy, wet Monday here in Tallahassee and around the southeast Mid-Atlantic. So hope you're doing well wherever you are. 0:41 Wrapping up the Florida State men's basketball season, uh, I'm associate editor Bob Ferrante here with contributing writer Justin Hood. 0:48 We've covered Florida State from start to finish through the preseason through, uh, truly one year, one calendar year of the Luke Loucks era as he has been rebuilding this program really from the ground up. 1:01 A new staff, completely new roster, as you all know, with the exception of a couple of players. So Justin and I are gonna reflect a little bit on, on the season. 1:10 Wanna hit on the players' decision Sunday, or, or maybe even earlier than that when they met, to, to not participate in the NIT and accept a potential bid. 1:21 Um, we do think obviously Florida State would've been in line with 18 wins to be in the NIT. It's a 32-team field. 1:28 Um, I was honestly a little bit surprised when, when this news leaked out earlier Sunday, and I think, uh, everybody wanted to, but the selection show for the NIT was Sunday at 9:00 PM. 1:40 And of course, uh, Florida State had passed that up. Justin, your thoughts on, again, Luke Loucks I think wanted this, but he wanted the players to make the call. Your, your thoughts when you heard the news. 1:53 I was surprised 'cause Luke, throughout the whole season, was, "Yeah, we're gonna go to the NIT if we're invited." 1:59 Then after the Duke game, something changed, I guess, with the players, and they just decided not to, uh, for whatever reason. But, you know, I respect it. 2:07 Just, you wanna make the tournament, and the NIT is just kind of an im- you know, a consolation prize. And some of these guys are just... probably didn't wanna play anymore. 2:16 They thought, you know, they just wanted the tournament. 2:18 So I mean, I get it, but I would've liked to seen this team play a few more games 'cause, I mean, they were fun to watch down the stretch, I will say, as a basketball fan. 2:28 Again, they were 0 and 5 in the ACC going into that Miami game January 20th down there, when, uh, when really things started to, to turn. 2:37 I, I think, you know, we asked on the Front Runner Seminole Sidelines show, we had Chauncey Wiggins and, uh, and Robert McCray V on, and tried to pin them down as w- as to what the turning point was in the year. 2:50 Was it that NC State loss by 44? Was it the Miami win? Um, what, what really was it? 2:56 I'm not sure we, we got a great answer from them, but I think they've all pointed to that Miami win as being a, a turning point in the players' season. I think this is, um... You know, Justin, I, I'm kinda with you. 3:09 You said, you know, the players maybe thought this was the end of the season. It'd been a long haul coming out of that 0 and 5 deficit, then you win 10 conference games. Did they sort of... 3:20 Were they all in on, "Hey, it's, it's either the NCAA tournament or nothing"? 3:25 I remember Coach Loucks, maybe you do too, maybe this is one of the post games you were there, it sounded like Luke at one point was admitting this team's in a rut. 3:33 He just wanted the team to be eligible for the ACC tournament. And in the end, they, they make an eight seed. Let's spend a little bit of time, I think, appreciating this roster, this journey, what they've accomplished. 3:47 My expectations were not high for this team. I, I think I thought 500 was somewhat realistic, maybe a, a decent bar. Let's reflect on where you were watching some of those practices in the preseason, those early games. 4:02 What did you have as a, as a realistic expectation for this team? Oh, I thought we would make the ACC tournament. I thought early on we would go through some growing pains, 'cause Luke Loucks is a first-time head coach. 4:12 He's never done this before, so he's gonna go through his own coaching growing pains, and which he did, and he learned as the season progressed. And the same thing with the team. 4:20 They're learning a whole new system, a whole new set of coaches, all new players. You know, I knew this would take some time. 4:28 Probably about mid-February I thought they would be in a good spot, 'cause their non-conference schedule was very tough. You know, they go at Dayton, Texas A&M, Houston, and Florida, of course. 4:38 You know, those were, those were tough games. You know, and they hung well with Florida. And when... After the Florida game, I kinda knew they had something. It was just... 4:46 With basketball, you know you can do drills and practice all you want and do scrimmages, but you have to play minutes on the court against somebody and just get that repetition and get the familiarity with the players. 4:58 And then by the time we got to ACC play, obviously it started out with Duke and North Carolina, which is not the greatest start to any ACC team. It's the toughest you can probably get. 5:08 And then you come back home, get blown out by NC State. Like you said, I was there, you were there. It was... That one I was like, "Oh boy, the week... This could be trouble." 5:18 But you know, they kept losing after that, but eventually, like you said, the Miami game I think they kinda figured it out. And Robert McCray really, uh, was... You know, he was the main guy to kinda start this, I think. 5:29 And Chauncey and Legeay, they had... They all kinda contributed. But they really found their feet I found- I f- felt like in the Miami game. And then they just... 5:38 Obviously, we know they went on a run, and they almost made... You know, they al- they took Duke to the last shot, you know [laughs] so it was... And you know, they beat... 5:46 Or the, they lost to Duke earlier in the year when they came here. Me and you were at that game too. And I thought they played hard there. 5:53 And you know, went and covered the North Carolina game up in Chapel Hill, which was also, you know, a, a tough task. 5:58 But they played well enough, and I kinda knew then that this team could reallyBe something they're starting to figure it out. 6:05 And I think going into next year, you're gonna see a different team too, than a team that started slow this year. 6:12 And I, I remember asking Coach Loucks, you know, before that first exhibition game at Alabama, you know, again, "Remind me, why are you intentionally scheduling so difficult for this new-look roster?" 6:23 I mean, you're, you're bringing together six senior transfers, you've got some younger guys. I think there were gonna be growing pains, but, but the way it played out gradually, um, you didn't see... 6:36 I think you saw enough in December especially to be encouraged, and then January obviously the rough start, the schedule did no, uh, no favors I think to Florida State. But, um, shout-out Jason Pardue. I just... 6:48 Him, him saying, "Not the most memorable team, but absolutely one of the most respected for their approach and fight." 6:53 I think those are good, good words, 'cause I think there was, um, maybe not enough leadership on this roster in the senior side of things, but had the right mindset, had that mid-major, grind-it-out, chip-on-your-shoulder. 7:09 They were willing to fight. 7:11 I mean, there's, there's a ton of resolve i- in these guys on this roster, so I think that's something that we will remember them for, uh, being the first year, the first team, Luke Loucks bringing them together. 7:23 And I think obviously another storyline to the NIT decision I think for a lot of players is a lot of these seniors came here to be developed by NBA coaches to move on to pro basketball. 7:36 I don't think besides Chauncey and, and Robert that there's a lot of guys who maybe have the pot- potential for an NBA two-way contract. A lot of them can go Europe, um, all around the country... 7:49 Or all around the world there are basketball opportunities, and Luke knows people. I wonder if to some extent a lot of guys were just saying, "Hey, it's, it's maybe my time to go play pro ball overseas." 8:01 With what I've learned from Luke Loucks and the coaching staff, that might be I think a storyline for a lot of these guys. So 8:09 a lot to, um, to appreciate with these guys, the Florida State Seminoles' season, again ending at 18-15. It was a fun season, especially these last two months, putting together 10 ACC wins. 8:22 Justin, I wanna hit on a couple of our favorite memories with these guys. I know you made that trip to Carolina, going to see the Dean Dome. 8:28 Um, not a win that night, but some of your favorite memories, favorite wins from, uh, from Florida State's season. Well, the, the first one that was the Miami game. 8:39 It was at Miami, even though later on we ended up losing to them again, uh, when they came here. But I felt like that was my favorite when... 8:46 Every time we beat Miami it's, it's always a, a good game to watch, or whenever we beat Clemson or any of our rivals really. But yeah, the Miami game, I felt that was the turning point for this team. 8:55 That was definitely my favorite game. The Clemson was... Clemson game was probably the biggest, uh, win I think we had, where I thought, "Okay, this team might get hot and do something." 9:04 But, uh, so those, those two games for sure. But I guess if I had to bullet to my... you know, a gun to my head, definitely the Miami game was the most memorable one at Miami. I'm with you. I, I agree on the Miami one. 9:16 I think the Clemson game too up there historically, Florida State not performing well. 9:22 Um, whether that's the matchup with, with Clemson and Coach Brownell's guys, or it's, uh, just a tougher environment at Littlejohn, I think for whatever reason Florida State hadn't performed well there. 9:33 I think that was a chip-on-the-shoulder type of game. You know, Chauncey wanting to beat Clemson, Robert being a South Carolina native probably had a lot of family there, a lot of friends. 9:43 That one I think meant quite a bit for him. So again, uh, 10 conference wins I think was an achievement that we really didn't, didn't maybe see coming. 9:54 I think we saw maybe more non-conference victories in there and fewer ACC wins. So you, you take the good with the bad there in year one for Coach Loucks. 10:04 Um, let's maybe reflect on a couple of the players, 'cause I think Robert McCray deserves some of our time. 10:10 Again, a guy who was a little bit more of a shooting guard who could pass at Jacksonville, comes over with Michael Fly, Michael Fly becoming a Florida State assistant and the GM. 10:22 I think we saw a really nice progression from Robert McCray. I don't know if he's gonna be a point guard at the next level, maybe more of a combo guard. 10:31 But just that progress, Justin, we got to see that over the course of the season. Your, your thoughts on Robert McCray. I mean, he was definitely a combo guard. He could play the two if he wanted to, he can play the one. 10:42 But, uh, he's definitely... He had the ball a lot in his hands, and that leads to a lot of turnovers, which he really struggled with in the early part of the, of the year, and he just kept giving it up and giving it up. 10:51 But he would also drive the lane. He could get... you know, you really get to the basket quickly. Just one or two dribbles, boom, boom, he's there. And that was a good sign I think for him. 11:02 And then he started getting his shot going, where he could do step backs and, you know, just drain that shot from the left wing, which was... It's clearly his spot I felt like, and top of the key was also his spot. 11:11 You know, he was staying on his toes, he was always getting good lift on his shots, and his shot really improved. 11:17 And then I think once he kind of figured out what he is in this offense, everybody else kind of fed off that, and he really started to just take his game to the next level I think. 11:27 And of course, Luke Loucks coaching, Michael Fly's coaching, just going through the season, going through practices and everything, repetitions, you know, you're gonna get better with time, and he definitely was one of them. 11:37 And we're gonna miss him greatly I think, you know? But he's, he wasn't a true point guard by any means, but he was definitely a combo guard. 11:45 You know, as far as other players go, obviously Chauncey and Lejay were, were big contributors this year. But out of all the players I think going forward, uh, Thomas Bussang is gonna be a good player one day. 11:56 I saw a lot of... a lot from him this year. I mean, he's 6'9", got long arms, super athletic, can run. He can really finish around the rim, [chuckles] he can block shots, he can s- get steals and get out in the open. 12:08 And I think... And his shot was getting better. He is... You can tell he was working on it from the corner three. He... 12:12 Luke Loucks' you know, shooting drills, I'm sure he'sThey're doing that every day and he's not taking a play off. Also, I saw him really give effort on a lot of games. Even like during the NC State game 12:27 we played like, you know, not very good that day, but Thomas Bussang had a good, had a good game that day, and he was playing hard. 12:32 And I remember Luke Loucks, I asked him about that in the press conference, and he responded with something like, "Oh, he played well. The rest of them didn't. 12:40 I could have shipped them up to Gordo's," which I thought was [laughs] interesting for him to say. 12:46 But he did give, uh, Bussang some credit, you know, on, on that he was the one guy that did play hard that game, and I think they learned a lot from that. But Thomas is gonna be a definitely a good player next year. 12:57 He's gonna probably start, I would say, and he's gonna keep growing too. Like I said, I think he's 6'8" or 6'9" right now. He's got big hands too. He's... 13:05 In some of the dunks that he had down the stretch, especially the one against Cal, I mean, he was... He's getting better and better and better. 13:11 And think with the whole off season and the training program, strength and conditioning, he'll get, you know, bigger, so by the time, uh, fall rolls around, they're ready to start practice, you're gonna see him in the starting lineup. 13:22 And if Florida State can hold onto him, uh, [laughs] for the next couple of years, I think he is definitely a future NBA potential player. Chauncey and, um, Robert maybe. 13:34 Chauncey probably I would say more of an NBA player 'cause of his size. He's 6'11", can shoot threes. He's the prototypical forward, I would say, that the NBA is looking for, and Luke knows that. 13:46 So it's definitely those two players. Yeah, Robert and Chauncey and Lege are all great, but I think Thomas Bussang is, is gonna be a good player one day eventually. It feels like Thomas is a building block for them. 13:58 I think he's, he's the number one guy you have to retain, whether that's- Yes... financially or, or just laying out the developmental plan, and I think Thomas knows that. 14:07 He, he spent some time at laying at the Overtime Elite, um, you know, group there. He knew what his projection was. Like you said, he's long, he can, he can be very athletic on the defensive end. 14:19 I see a little bit early similarities to a, to a Terance Mann in that he can do a lot of the little things, the dirty work, the rebounding, that kind of hustle teammate type of guy that I think Florida State really, really needs moving forward. 14:35 I, I think not the best three point shooter just yet, but if you look at his numbers, roughly 58, 60% on the, the shots inside the arc. Mm-hmm. 14:45 So when he took a shot, when he found it, whether it was at the rim or, or near the rim, he knew what to do, and he was getting that ball in, in, the basket at a really high rate. 14:54 If you're looking to build around certain guys, I'm, I'm with you. It's Bussang. Martin Somerville, who's been, I think, credited as a leader on this team, is somebody up there. His three point shot wasn't consistent. 15:07 The, the shooting wasn't there, I think, game in, game out. 15:11 But again, when you look at somebody coming from UMass Lowell and really elevating the level, becoming kind of a reserve guy, um, being a spark plug, being a vocal guy, which candidly I think a lot of the seniors weren't, uh, Martin at times was that vocal guy. 15:28 I think that's another guy you're looking to build around. So there are some pieces on this roster before we start looking at the, uh, the signees and, and the guys who are coming in next. Um, who else? 15:41 Let, let's talk about some of the other guys who are coming back. I'll, I'll kind of run through some of the names and, Justin, let you get some thoughts out here. 15:47 Um, a lot of guys don't have eligibility, obviously Robert, Chauncey Wiggins, Wijay Jones, Koby McGee, Alex Steen, and, uh, Shaun Muhammad. Florida State's got some decisions to make. 15:59 Do they bring back Aleer Maluok, um, a big man with, with a limited game at this point, still developing? Cam Miles, uh, sort of a shooting guard type, um, another good option they could bring back. 16:12 And then you look at, uh, obviously Jason Lopez who, who enrolled early. He's got, uh, he will be here for football and basketball as well as the signees. 16:21 So what are your thoughts on some of those options down the bench as far as guys at Florida State would want to return? Uh, well Martin, to start out with him, you know, he's definitely what became a leader. 16:32 I remember watching some practices, and he was very vocal, got a fire in him for sure. But he's more than capable of, um, pouring it in. I mean, we all saw what he did against Virginia Tech, so he's capable for sure. 16:45 Um, and I think he got better too playing, you know, his role. I don't know if he's a point guard or a shooting guard. He's, uh, a combo guard. 16:52 That's one thing Florida State needs is a pure point guard, I think, right now. Same thing with Cam Miles. He's a combo guard. He can play point, but he can also play... I would put him at the two, was... 17:02 That's where I think Cam can really take off, I think. Lopez, I have not watched him practice, so I, I, I haven't been to any of the practices with him. 17:11 But from what I've gathered from other writers I've talked to is they got him at the point, but he's also... Basketball's a game of heights, 17:19 and he can't, we cannot run away with the fact that this man is 5'8" or 5'9", somewhere around there, right? I think this is official. 17:26 I don't- I've, I've seen him, you know, down on the court a few times, and, uh, he's very small. But he can dribble apparently, and he's, he's got some, some game to him, I'm sure, once I see him, you know, eventually. 17:38 But he's also a slot receiver for the football team, so it's, I don't know how he's gonna juggle that. Same thing with, uh, Xavier Osceola. They red shirted him this year, so he plays on the football team as well. 17:50 So I think, you know, we got some decisions to make. I would bring back Cam Miles too, 'cause I think he's, he showed some, some real game towards, especially during the Georgia Tech game. He had a couple moves. 18:00 I was like, "Oh, okay, he's, he's gonna be, he's gonna be a player." Uh, Aleer, you know, the first season under Hamilton, I could see he had some post moves, but he was doing more post stuff with Hamilton. 18:10 But with Loucks, it's a different system. You're gonna have to run, and you're gonna have to move, and you have to shoot a little bit too.Unfortunately, uh, for Alliar, he cannot shoot and he's six-eleven. 18:22 He can get r- he can get some rebounds, he's athletic, but he is skinny, and he needs to put on maybe a little bit more weight. 18:28 I think this year he regressed a little bit, but I think he's just still trying to figure out Lou Klops' system, and maybe he's... I think out of all the players, he's probably the biggest 18:40 one that's gonna go to the transfer portal, I think. I would love to have him back and keep, keep getting better, but I don't know if... You know, we'll see what happens. He looks like the one that could, you know, go. 18:51 AJ Swinton, I think will definitely come back. I saw a lot from him his first year with Hamilton and then this year, obviously, before his injury. 18:58 You know, it was unfortunate, but, you know, if he's super athletic, can run the floor, can dunk and block shots. You know, he's, he has a little bit of a three-point shot. 19:05 He, he shot a few th- a few times, you know, but he's, he lost a little bit of weight. They slimmed him down a little bit, I felt, in the beginning. But, you know, I think him coming back is gonna be big. 19:15 Of all the new signees, you know, we definitely, uh, Brandon Bass Jr. and, uh, Marcus Ponder are probably gonna be the ones that are gonna play right away, especially Brandon Bass. 19:23 He's, you know, obviously if anybody that knows basketball, his dad, Brandon Bass, played for the Celtics for a long time, and he was a forward. 19:31 So when you get sons from NB- former NBA players, they usually come in ready to play, ready to go, you know, 'cause most of them will have an indoor basketball court in their, on their property, you know. 19:44 So they get all the things as a kid, you know, from Brandon growing up with the Celtics, you know, he has every opportunity, you know, to be a good basketball player, and having Brandon as a dad probably helps him. 19:55 So I, I fully expect Brandon Bass Jr. to be ready to play from day one, much like Thomas Bussong and Cam Miles. Marcus Ponder, you know, he's, he's the big one. 20:04 You know, he's seven foot, two sixty, two sixty-five, depending on where you look. 20:09 He can really, he can, he's [laughs], he can finish around the rim for sure, and Florida State lacked some size this year for sure and an attitude down low. 20:18 And I think he's gonna solve a lot of those problems, but he's gonna have to get into shape. 20:22 I don't know how good a shape he is in right now, but Laux's system, you're gonna have to run a lot, and I've foresee him being kind of a force by February. 20:30 I think he'll really get his feet under him, and Laux will have probably figured out what he is and how he can use him. 20:37 Uh, the other two, Colin Paul and Marte Barnes, you know, they're both, you know, one's a combo guard and one's a six-seven kind of a wing player, which Colin Paul, yeah, he's six, seven, and he's a wing. 20:48 He's what Laux is looking for. Laux loves these six-seven wing players and, you know, I haven't seen Colin play that, play that much, but I've seen the other two, other three play a lot, so. 20:58 But if you look at his measurables, you know, six-seven, two twenty-five is, is a big guard, and he's only gonna be a freshman, so he'll get better. 21:05 But, you know, Brandon Bass and Ponder will be probably ready to play right away. Yeah, so there's a good foundation there. 21:13 And again, you, you have to cross your fingers and think that Florida State will try to retain as many of those guys as possible. I, I think I'm on the same page as you. 21:21 A- again, you'd like to see an Alliar Maluuk come back because maybe he's the guy who can, uh, provide you some bench minutes if, if a Marcus Ponder is gonna average a twenty to twenty-five minutes just be from a, from a conditioning standpoint, just from his size. 21:35 Um, you, you have to kinda have enough backup plans, especially for, for player development, for foul trouble, for all different kinds of scenarios. So we'll see how it plays out. 21:46 Um, I'd be reluctant to put a number on it, how many players Florida State is gonna grab out of the portal just because you don't know how many guys are staying in right now. 21:55 So it's a storyline for us to follow in March. The portal opens right around, I believe April 6th or 7th for the men and women. So it's a really narrow window this year. It's about fifteen or so days. 22:07 Again, that's just to enter the portal. Uh, players do not have to make decisions. 22:12 It's again, truly make your decision, get in there, and then, uh, coaching staffs have time, I believe the whole month of April after that portal opens, you can host, uh, players in the portal. 22:24 So lots to, uh, lots to discuss. Uh, wanna hit on one more question Jason asked us. I think that's an interesting one because we really haven't talked a ton about Jalen Crawford. 22:35 I would be skeptical as to how many minutes Jalen can play, but I'll say if he's gonna be a potential sparkplug leader, a three-point shooter, I wouldn't mind giving him two or three more minutes a half just to kinda see what it looks like. 22:52 Is he gonna get heavier rotational minutes? I'm, I'm not seeing it, but I think this is a good teammate to have. This is probably an old school green team, green squad type of guy to have on the roster. 23:06 Uh, Justin, your thoughts, Jalen Crawford, obviously Adrian's his dad, so, uh, a lot of family connections here at Florida State. Yeah. Yeah. Adrian played here at Florida State a while ago. 23:16 I think it was for Steve Robinson, if I'm not mistaken. Yes. And, uh, I've seen, I see Adrian, you know, everywhere. Every basketball event we go to, he's always around. He's always a super nice guy. 23:26 Jalen, I've seen play very sparingly, you know, and he's always the guy at the end of the bench who's always, you know, up celebrating, giving high fives, you know, really supporting teammates and everything. 23:37 So he's, I mean, he's, he's in his, he's gonna go into his junior year, and he hasn't played his freshman or sophomore year. So it's... He's, and he's only six foot. So, and, and like in basketball, it's a game of sizes. 23:49 So I think, you know, depending on who they bring in, you know, we'll see if, if he can crack some minutes. I don't, I don't know, you know, if this... He, he looks like a walk-on. 23:58 Unfortunately, the old term of walk-on, I guess, that's not really around anymore. So it's, it's gonna be hard to, hard to s- to really quantify him. Um, 24:08 he's a good kid, absolutely a great kid, and he's a good teammate to have. I've only seen him play a couple minutes, and I'm sure he has, you know, a good three-point shot. 24:18 You know, Luke's very, you know, drilling that into their game, so I'm sure he can, he can do these things, but he's just gonna have to keep working, and he's gonna have to outwork some guys to get minutes, and that's the way this team is kinda constructed. 24:29 You know, he's gonna be around the program no matter what. If he doesn't play one minute for the rest of his career, he's gonna be here. You know, he's aNull through and through. 24:37 So we're gonna have to see, uh, how everything else plays out next year with the roster, and we'll see what happens with him. Uh, but he's definitely a good teammate to have on the team. 24:47 Yeah, he's a guy where you wish that the college basketball had a red shirt rule, where, where somebody could play X number of games, not lose a year of eligibility. Mm-hmm. And truly played six games, seven minutes. 24:59 I mean, he was not out there a ton. Right. 25:01 So it's kind of a tough projection as far as what the coach has seen in practice but I think, uh, I think he's a good guy to have around in the locker room for a lot of reasons that, that we've hit on. 25:12 Okay, quick break coming up here, and then on the flip side, we will talk, uh, Florida State softball, baseball, as we wrap up Monday's show here on Seminole Sidelines on the Osceola's YouTube channel. 25:22 [upbeat music] Hey, Seminole fans. Alumni Hall is your ultimate FSU shopping experience, and has moved to a new location off Timberlane Road in Tallahassee. Shop FSU gear from Nike, Champion, New Era, Yeti, and more. 25:35 Alumni Hall has Seminole gear for the entire family, plus accessories and gifts. Spend $150, and you'll earn $10 off your next purchase with their Hall Pass rewards. 25:44 Stop by their new location on Timberlane Road near REI, or shop anytime online at alumni hall.com. Alumni Hall, where Seminole fans shop. 25:56 All right, back on the Osceola's, uh, Seminole Sidelines, Monday afternoon with, uh, contributing writer Justin Hood. I'm Bob Ferrante. 26:03 We're talking Florida State basketball as we, uh, put, I guess, kind of a bow on the, uh, twenty-five, twenty-six season unexpectedly. 26:11 H- also we, we had talked about doing this show maybe a week ago, and we thought this would be an, an NIT type of preview show. But, uh, but good, I think, for us to have a good basketball discussion there. 26:22 And of course, we'll be talking more hoops as the transfer portal intensifies, and we get to meet and know some of the names who are options for, uh, for Florida State next season. Well, we shift gears here. 26:34 Um, I think we wanna have a good baseball, softball discussion. 26:38 I'm gonna let you have softball first because you were out there at JoAnn Graf Field for, um, parts of the three games and, and a, a fun weekend for Florida State to start ACC play with the sweep of Syracuse. 26:50 So I think the appropriate place to start is with the red-hot Isa Torres, who has not gotten out in eighteen straight plate appearances. You're not gonna hear or see that very often in baseball or softball. 27:07 You've had a chance to watch Isa quite a bit this weekend, this season. How much fun is it to watch somebody who's one of the best in the country right now? 27:16 Yeah, when she came in as a freshman, I remember I was covering the softball team for the FSU, and, uh, I mean, I knew right away, I mean, she came up big. 27:25 And as a freshman, like walk-off home runs and stuff, and every time I looked up, it seems like she was getting a hit. And she has such a fluid swing, and she's got good eyes. She just knows how to make contact. 27:35 And then last year, I know she got better, and then this year, obviously, like you said, she's just really hitting the cover off the ball. And I talked to her yesterday after the game, um, and it was... 27:44 and she's very nice, and she's very engaging. She's a great teammate. You know, she's very, very supportive. She's very playful, kind of, in the, in the dugout, you know. She really keeps the team cohesive, I think. 27:54 She's for sure a great leader. And I was there when she got knocked out by the Alabama girl, and she got a concussion. It was a very nasty injury. You were, you know, you were there too, Bob. You know- Yep... 28:05 it was the, it was, you know, I thought she might've been down forever 'cause her neck really got, you know, yeah, messed up a little bit. So it was... I was a little worried there at, at first. 28:14 But when she came back, she just has been so- such a terror lately, you know. And she just sees the ball very, very well. She hits number one for a reason, 'cause she just gets on base, and she runs the bases well too. 28:25 She's very, very fast. And so she's definitely a person that Florida State fans are already embracing. If you're the softball-- if you're a softball fan, you know who she is. 28:34 And, you know, she's our, our best player, and we're gonna need her down the stretch, for sure, or Florida State's gonna need her down the stretch, for sure, to get, you know, to where they wanna be. 28:44 And it starts this, on Wednesday when they welcome Texas Tech, who's the number two team, a team that they know all too well. 28:51 But as I was talking to Isa yesterday, I'd mentioned that, I asked her about that, and she said that, you know, they know they got good arms. We're familiar with them. We have a plan. 29:00 You know, we just gotta stick to the plan, and she thinks they'll come out, you know, on top if that, if that's the case. So I think it's gonna be another test. 29:07 We played Texas Tech earlier this year, so we, uh, we know what to expect. 29:11 Obviously, they eliminated Florida State last year in the, in the playoffs, which I was there to see Kennedy, Nysiere Kennedy pitch live, which is... She's very hard to hit. You know, she throws very hard. 29:23 She does strike out occasionally, but if you do put it in play, she, I mean, it's either a ground out or a pop-up. So it's, she's gonna be a challenge for this team. I definitely think this team is a good hitting team. 29:35 Pitching, you know, right now we got one really good one with Jazzy Frenchik. The others, well k- Lonnie's still kind of tinkering with the rotation. 29:42 But Syracuse was not a [clears throat] excuse me, not the greatest team in the ACC, but it was a good way to start out the ACC o- uh, you know, play to get a sweep, especially with two run ruled victories. 29:56 And on the second day, Isa, it was the fourth pitch of the game, home run, easily. You know, her, her bat speed is incredible. It's a fluid swing. And it does not look like she's really hitting it that hard. 30:09 But somehow she just gets home runs, she gets on base, and it's... She's definitely a key piece to this softball team's success. Obviously, getting Kennedy Harp back adds another dynamic to this team. 30:21 Um, she came off a ACL injury. I think she's gonna really help this team down the stretch. You know, this, you look at the lineup, you know, we got, Florida State has some hitters on this team. 30:30 But I think once the pitching kind of catches up in the second half, probably by mid-April, I would expect Lonnie to have a good handle on her pitching. 30:37 But Isa is definitely, um, one of my favorite players to cover, for sure.Yeah, Isa's been fantastic. 30:44 It's a, uh, six forty-eight batting average that leads the nation, leads division one, seven zero five on base percentage. It's, uh... Those are, those are silly numbers, let's just be honest. 30:55 It, it, it's not a pace that she can keep up, I don't think, across a full season, but it's been a remarkable, a remarkable start from Isa, 31:04 and she probably knows a lot of the girls on the Texas Tech team as a Texas native. 31:08 I know they've brought in some transfers, obviously, uh, Nyjerie Candy, as you mentioned, but probably from travel ball, knows a lot of those players, so that'll be an interesting, uh, match-up there for, for her. 31:19 And then the Seminoles, Wednesday, six PM, uh, I believe ACC Network on the, um, on the, on the broadcast for that. So good weekend for Florida State baseball. Watched a lot of those games up at Wake Forest on TV. 31:32 If you had told me there was gonna be a sweep over the weekend between Florida State and Wake, I would have thought, well, um, after that Florida game, that, that Florida State probably played well but, but got swept. 31:43 And I don't think any of us expected the pitching performances, the home runs, the power display, that they really good Wake pitching staff. 31:52 Uh, if you saw the games, you saw there's, there's a lot of ninety-five plus arms out of Wake Forest. There's also a lot of good pitching i-in the, on the Florida State mound too. 32:00 So the Seminoles sixteen and three on the season, three and O in the ACC. Now, uh, taking a break with the midweek with, uh, Bethune-Cookman, but then NC State comes in on Friday for a three-game series. 32:13 So those will be easily in the major polls, two of the top fifteen teams in the nation. So a really good matchup, Florida State versus NC State beginning on Friday at, uh, at Hauser. 32:26 So I think that's a, that's a good look for us at men's basketball, baseball, softball. We'll be back, uh, Wednesday afternoon, "Front Row Knowles: Seminole Sidelines" with Tom Block and Keith Jones. 32:38 Appreciate Justin Hood joining us here for the basketball discussion. He'll be back again as soon as we, we unpack spring sports, basketball, and some other news here on The Osceola. Again, check us out, theosceola.com. 32:49 You can get our free morning emails. Hit that, uh, subscribe button if you want those. Again, free morning emails seven days a week or upgrade for, um, subscription to The Osceola. It's under six bucks a month. 33:02 I believe it's that fifty-nine ninety-seven deal that Jerry and I have running right now. So check it out again, theosceola.com. You can read Justin's story on the, uh, softball games from the weekend. 33:13 I've got the baseball wrap-up. We've got some football stories and then again, baseball team moving up in the polls. All those major polls seeing Florida State move up. 33:23 Again, thanks for watching on The Osceola's YouTube channel. If you're checking us out, Spotify, Apple will have the, uh, audio later in the day from this show and others in prior weeks. 33:34 Thanks to Justin Hood for joining us. I'm Bob Ferrante. Take care, and we will talk to you all soon.
