Luke Loucks consulted Warriors' Steph Curry for major FSU Basketball staff decision

Florida State is in a new generation for its men's basketball program as Leonard Hamilton has stepped down to make way for Luke Loucks, and he is working to build the program in a new image. He'd built out a new staff, including bringing on former Florida State star and current Atlanta Hawk Terance Mann as an Assistant General Manager.

Bringing in NBA players as Assistant GMs is a new thing in college athletics, as Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry paved the way with his alma mater, Davidson. It just so happens that Coach Loucks was with Curry and the Warriors for a few years and decided to consult Curry to learn more about the role to see if it was something FSU could consider doing.

Florida State’s new head basketball coach Luke Loucks introduces himself, shares his beliefs and coaching style during a press conference Monday, March 10, 2025. | Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"As we were going through it, Steph Curry, who I coached in Golden State, became the Assistant GM for his alma mater at Davidson," Loucks started saying at a Florida State booster event on Monday night. "I called Steph about it, I said, 'What's the deal with this?' And he's like, 'Really, they just wanted money.' And so he gave them some money, but he said it's really cool he's helping them out with recruiting, help FaceTime some kids, and the next thing you know, Trae Young does the same thing with Oklahoma. And Trae is Terance Mann's teammate in Atlanta."

Loucks then went into the conversation with Mann, and what Mann has provided to the staff. "I'd already been talking to these guys just from NBA connections, so I called Terance up and said, 'Listen, I've got a crazy idea, would you wanna help us out at all?' And he thought I was asking for money, which I was asking for money, but Terance said, 'Of course I want to help you out.' That night, he was on the phone with two or three guys... But Terance is in our group coaches' thread, he's texting us every day, 'Have you looked at this kid, I've got a connection with this kid. I know this coach over here.' He's literally part of our coaching staff... He's been so valuable, not only for connecting all these recruits, but Terance is the type of kid we want... Terance was a much better player, but similar to me. He was never the best player on Florida State's team and he's played in the NBA for 6 or 7 years and made a ton of money just knowing his role and knowing how to execute and knowing how to compete. We want more guys like that. We want more guys that can show up with a great attitude, that work hard, that have high character, and that represent what a Florida State athlete should be. And so he knows what we're looking for, and he's helping us in a lot of different ways."

The roster is about halfway to being filled after ten Seminoles hit the transfer portal, which was an intentional move. As Loucks also alluded to later in this booster event, sometimes it's best for the players to hit the portal and find a new home, but he likes how the roster is taking shape. They've already taken more transfers in a few weeks than Coach Hamilton ever took in an offseason for his rosters. But it sounds like Terance Mann is helping out as much as possible with building a quality team.

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