Florida State turning to Kings assistant Luke Loucks as next head coach

Florida State is negotiating with Sacramento Kings assistant coach Luke Loucks to become head coach of the Seminoles, multiple outlets reported Friday.

Loucks played at Florida State from 2008-12 under head coach Leonard Hamilton, who took over the program in 2002 and is retiring at the end of this season.

A Florida native, Loucks turns 35 on April 1.

Sources: Florida State has offered its head coaching vacancy to Sacramento Kings assistant Luke Loucks.

The two sides are now negotiating a contract.

Loucks previously played for Leonard Hamilton with the Seminoles.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 7, 2025

More on Kings assistant & future Florida State head coach Luke Loucks

Luke Loucks was the Seminoles team captain, and he played largely overseas after the conclusion of his college career. He joined the staff of the Golden State Warriors in 2015, then spent a season with the Phoenix Suns before joining the Kings in May 2022.

The Seminoles (16-14, 7-12 Atlantic Coast Conference) conclude the regular season Saturday against SMU. They haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2021.

Hamilton, 76, is a three-time ACC Coach of the Year and has a 459-295 record at Florida State.

Loucks would become the latest alum to coach his college team. On Thursday, Utah hired former player Alex Jensen as its next head coach, replacing the fired Craig Smith.

–Field Level Media

More Kings content from Sactown Sports

It’s shaping up to be an emotional night at Golden 1 Center on Friday as De’Aaron Fox returns to Sacramento.

Fox, whose eight-year tenure with the Sacramento Kings ended in February after a trade sent the All-Star guard to San Antonio, departed from the organization that drafted him in 2017 on a somewhat sour note.

Starting with the firing of former head coach Mike Brown earlier this season, Fox’s relationship with the Kings organization took a turn for the worse in recent months, opting for the guard and his representation–NBA super-agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports–to start contemplating other situations for Fox’s next stop.

While Fox did not request a trade out of Sacramento, it was known that the guard would turn down extension offers following the team’s decision to move on from Brown, who Fox was fond of. After the organization failed to conduct a press conference following the sudden firing of Brown, the coach who led the Kings to their first NBA Playoff appearance in nearly 20 years, that was the end of the line for Fox’s time in Sacramento.

“I was like, ‘Yo, I’ve been here for going on my eighth year. If Mike gets fired, I’ll be going on my fifth coach,’” Fox told ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “And I told them, ‘I’m not going to play for another coach. I’m going to play for another team.’”

Read more below:

De’Aaron Fox: ‘I truly wanted to play for one team my whole career.’

Upcoming schedule for the 2024-25 Sacramento Kings

• Friday, March 7th – vs. San Antonio Spurs – 7:00 PM PT
• Sunday, March 9th – @ Los Angeles Clippers – 6:30 PM PT
• Monday, March 10th – vs. New York Knicks – 7:30 PM PT
• Thursday, March 13th – @ Golden State Warriors – 7:00 PM PT
• Friday, March 14th – @ Phoenix Suns – 7:00 PM PT

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