On Thursday, Noles247 wrote that Sacramento Kings assistant coach and former Florida State basketball player Luke Loucks has been a ‘leading candidate since the process started’ to replace head coach Leonard Hamilton as Florida State’s next head basketball coach.

On Friday, Andrea Adelson of ESPN and Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, among others, reported that Loucks is the lead candidate for the job and that the two parties – Loucks and FSU – are in the process of contract negotiations for him to indeed be named the successor of Hamilton. 

At this time, negotiations are ongoing but the expectation is that Loucks will become FSU’s eighth head coach in program history. An official announcement from FSU is not expected before the conclusion of their regular season finale against SMU on Saturday, when they will honor Hamilton for his 23 years as the head coach of the Seminoles.

Loucks played for FSU from 2008 to 2012. He was part of an ACC Championship with the Seminoles in 2012. He played in 136 games over his career with the Seminoles. He also earned his undergraduate degree from FSU in August of 2011 and then his master’s degree in sport management in August of 2012.

Following his collegiate career, he played professionally for four years before having back surgery, which ultimately meant the end of his playing career. During his professional playing career, he played in multiple countries, including stints in the NBA Development League (now G League).

He immediately went into coaching following his playing career. He joined the Golden State Warriors in 2016 as a paid intern. He served a film and player development role initially, then working his way to being their two-way player development coach, followed by player development coach with the full NBA squad.

He also spent time as an assistant coach and player development coach for the Nigerian national team in 2020.

In 2021-22, he joined the Phoenix Suns, serving the role as basketball strategy an personnel evaluation for the franchise.

He joined the Sacramento Kings in August of 2022 as an assistant coach and then became defensive coordinator for the Kings in 2024.