Florida State offers head coaching job to former ACC Champion, Kings assistant

The Florida State basketball coaching search seems to be coming to an end as they close in on their preferred target.

ESPN’s Andrea Adelson first reported on Friday morning that Sacramento Kings assistant Luke Loucks had emerged as the leading candidate to be the next FSU Basketball coach, then CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that Loucks had been offered the job, and the two sides were working through the final negotiations. Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 reported that it’s expected to be a five-year deal.

READ MORE: College basketball insider reveals top candidates for Florida State opening

Loucks has been seen as the favorite to succeed Leonard Hamilton since the moment it was announced that Coach Hamilton would be resigning at the end of the season. He has worked his way up the NBA coaching ranks with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, becoming the Kings’ defensive coordinator this season. He also has a pedigree of developing younger players, having been the head coach of a Summer League team in recent years.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported that the school could make the announcement official as early as Sunday, and that Loucks has been spending the last few days building out a coaching staff, including a potential GM to help navigate the transfer portal.

There are reasons to doubt the hire, as the NBA-to-college coaching route hasn’t been too successful recently, with examples like Jerry Stackhouse at Vanderbilt and Juwan Howard at Michigan. But a lot of college teams are following this route. Utah just hired former star player Alex Jensen, and BYU hired Kevin Young last season. How Loucks builds out his staff will have a major impact on his tenure as head coach.

Loucks played at Florida State under Coach Hamilton from 2008-2012, being a starter on FSU’s first-ever ACC Championship team in 2012. He is now expected to return to Tallahassee, looking to help the team win its third.

UPDATE: Loucks has told the Kings that he plans to accept the Florida State job, and the team congratulated him after practice for taking the job.

READ MORE: FSU Basketball falls on the road at Virginia in tight contest, 60-57

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