College basketball insider reveals top candidates for Florida State opening

Leonard Hamilton has just a few games remaining as the head men's basketball coach at Florida State. They play at Virginia on Tuesday night, against SMU on Saturday, and then have the ACC Tournament and potentially the NIT. But the calendar has turned to March, and rumors are starting to heat up.

College basketball insider Jeff Goodman, an analyst for The Field of 68, has reported a few of the names who are in consideration for the Florida State opening: Boston Celtics assistant coach (and former Seminole) Sam Cassell, Sacramento Kings assistant coach (another former Seminole) Luke Loucks, UAB head coach Andy Kennedy, Arkansas State head coach Bryan Hodgson, Samford head coach Bucky McMillan, and Duke associate head coach Chris Carrawell.

Here are a few names in the mix for the Florida State job, sources told @TheFieldOf68:

Celtics assistant Sam Cassell
Kings assistant Luke Loucks
UAB coach Andy Kennedy
Arkansas State coach Bryan Hodgson
Samford coach Bucky McMillan
Duke assistant Chris Carrawell
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 4, 2025

Goodman also reported, "The big question that candidates have for the Florida State [job] is its commitment resource-wise to the basketball program."

That's a fair thing to consider at a school like FSU, as the ACC is way behind the mark in paying its schools, and FSU is already investing a ton of money into football. There may not be a lot of resources available for NIL, new facilities, and more.

Loucks was seen in attendance at the Florida State-Clemson game over the NBA's All-Star break around Valentine's Day. He's been viewed as the favorite to land the job since it was first announced it would be opening.

Cassell publicly said a few weeks ago that he hadn't heard from FSU at that point, but that could have changed since.

Bucky McMillan led Samford to the NCAA Tournament last season, and although this year's squad isn't as strong as last year's, they are still a top contender in a strong Southern Conference. Bucky Ball has become one of the most exciting watches in college basketball, and he should be landing a big opportunity soon.

The same goes for Andy Kennedy at UAB, who has won 20+ games in his first four seasons there with two NCAA Tournament appearances. The Blazers are 19-10 this season but should pick up another win in the next week to give Kennedy 20+ wins in every season there. He's also the former head coach of Ole Miss, where he made two NCA Tournament appearances in 12 seasons.

Bryan Hodgson has Arkansas State as the best team in the Sun Belt, sitting with a 22-9 record before they start the conference tournament. This is just his second season as a head coach after being an assistant at Buffalo and Alabama under Nate Oats, but he's won 20+ games each season.

Chris Carrawell has been an assistant at Duke since 2018 after playing there from 1996-2000. He's a highly regarded recruiter, and has been credited as the main developer for players such as Dereck Lively II, Kyle Filipowski, and Mark Williams, who were all NBA draft picks. He's also been an assistant at Marquette.

There are other names that have yet to surface for this job, but it wouldn't be surprising to see FSU's next coach come from this list.

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