Noles News: FSU amping up intensity as spring camp hits midpoint

Recruiting

You can catch up on all the latest Florida State football recruiting news and pick the brains of our recruiting staff in the latest edition of our recruiting thread.

Class of 2024 commitments

QUARTERBACK: 4 star Luke Kromenhoek (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 5 star Kam Davis (GA)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Camdon Frier (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Tawaski “TJ” Abrams (FL)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Keishawn Mashburn (FL)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jamorie Flagg (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star Jordan Pride (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star CJ Heard (GA)

KICKER: Jake Weinberg (FL)

Football

Florida State returned to the practice field on Tuesday, its first day back out since Saturday’s scrimmage. Head coach Mike Norvell spoke on the day’s work, saying he was pleased with how competitive and energetic his squad was on a day when they had all the reasons to slide back in effort.

“That was another good, competitive day,” head coach Mike Norvell said after practice. “Coming off the scrimmage, I tried to push some install, put a good amount in on both sides of the ball — trying to test the minds with the improvements that need to be made coming off of Saturday while still adding new concepts or things we’re looking at.”

“Both sides of the ball, I thought today was a mental test for ‘em and I thought they worked with good energy.”

Tight end Jaheim Bell, running back Rodney Hill, defensive back Fentrell Cypress and defensive end Patrick Payton also spoke with the media, detailing their efforts and impressions so far through camp.

Norvell also spoke on defensive lineman Derrick McLendon II, who is entering the transfer portal, wishing him the best and thanking him for his contributions to the program.

ESPN selected FSU as one of three teams most likely to make a second-ever trip to the College Football Playoffs in 2023 alongside LSU and Washington:

2022 record: 10-3, 5-3 ACC

Last CFP semifinal appearance: 2014

Total appearances in CFP rankings: 24

Highest CFP ranking: No. 2 (twice) on Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, 2014

Highest playoff ranking finish: No. 3 in 2014

Biggest reason for optimism: Heisman hopeful quarterback Jordan Travis. The selection committee typically loves Heisman talent, and Travis was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country last season, accounting for 32 total touchdowns. He ranked No. 5 with 9.1 yards per pass attempt, No. 25 with 3,214 passing yards and No. 13 in completions of at least 20 yards. He also had 22 runs of at least 10 yards, and FSU’s entire rushing game should remain a strength, as long as the offensive line continues to show improvement.

Biggest hurdle: Consistency. There’s no shame in a 10-win season, but if FSU is going to garner any serious recognition from the selection committee, the Seminoles have to include more wins against ranked opponents on their résumé. For three straight weeks last season, FSU lost to ranked Atlantic Division opponents Wake Forest, NC State and Clemson.

“In each one of those games we had an opportunity to come out with a victory, but we weren’t consistent enough,” coach Mike Norvell said. “This is a team that is built on both sides of the ball and can have production and play at a very high level — we just need to do that consistently.”

In retrospect, the 24-23 win against eventual SEC West champ LSU was impressive, but it was rendered moot in the committee meeting room by the Noles’ inability to rise to the top of their own division. Wins against Florida and Oklahoma were important to FSU’s program, but they weren’t the formidable ranked opponents of the past. FSU again has a schedule that would impress the committee, but the Noles can’t beat LSU, Clemson and Florida and drop games to Wake Forest and the Pitt Panthers.

Basketball

Florida State guard Ta’Niya Latson was named NCAA Division I Freshman of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association on Tuesday morning:

The Miami, Fla., native was unquestionably the nation’s top freshman in 2022-23, also earning the Tamika Catchings Award given by the United States Basketball Writers Association, as well as The Athletic National Freshman of the Year. Latson averaged an ACC-leading 21.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game this year.

Latson is also a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard award.

The 5-foot-8 freshman guard produced one of the finest first seasons in collegiate basketball history, becoming the first freshman in ACC history to lead the league in scoring. She was the conference’s greatest scoring threat, producing an ACC-leading 18 20-point games.

Latson proved to be a scoring threat who also put up impressive field-goal percentage numbers. With a very high usage rate, Latson shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 36.2 percent from 3-point range.

She was rewarded as the ACC Rookie of the Year as well as getting the nod for All-ACC First Team honors. Latson set an FSU single-season record with seven 30-point games this season.

Baseball

Softball

Florida State pitcher Kathryn Sandercock was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week, the fifth time in her career she’s earned the honor. Sandercock picked up two wins in her two appearances against the Blue Devils. In 10 innings, Sandercock allowed just one earned run against a team that came into the weekend averaging 6.53 runs a game. Sandercock allowed just four hits against Duke this past weekend, holding the Blue Devils to their lowest hit totals of the season in both Friday’s and Sunday’s games.

Florida State softball junior outfielder Kaley Mudge is going to Washington D.C. this morning to speak at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing titled “Taking the Buzzer Beater to the Bank: Protecting College Athletes’ NIL Dealmaking Rights.”

From FSU Sports Info:

Mudge will be the lone active student-athlete speaking at the hearing as she will be joined by Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel, Virginia State University President Dr. Makola M. Abdullah, former NFL player Trey Burton, Washington State Director of Athletics Pat Chun and Executive Director and Founder of the College Football Players Association Jason Stahl.

“I feel very honored and grateful for the opportunity to share my story and speak about my college athlete experience on a national level,” Mudge said. “Florida State has been such an amazing community and family to me, and I couldn’t imagine a better experience. I’m so excited to meet and share my story with our country’s lawmakers.”

All Sports

No. 7 Florida State men’s golf tied for fourth at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational:

The trio of freshman Jack Bigham, junior Brett Roberts and redshirt junior Cole Anderson led the Seminoles by shooting 4-under overall. Florida State shot 13-under as a team, including a final round where it went 3-under.

Bigham, Roberts and Anderson tied for 14th on the leaderboard.

Junior Frederik Kjettrup had the low final round for the Seminoles with a 2-under 69 on Tuesday. Kjettrup tied for 33rd shooting even par for the tournament.

Junior Gray Albright, who played as an individual, also finished well by shooting a final-round 69. He tied for 42nd at 2-over.

Two Seminoles recorded eagles on Tuesday. Kjettrup dialed one in from long distance on the par-5, 530-yard 13th hole after recording an ace in his opening round on the par-3 eighth.

Roberts added an eagle on the par-5, 535-yard 15th hole.

Florida State women’s golfers Charlotte Heath, Amelia Williamson and Lottie Woad are set to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur starting today:

The first 36 holes of the ANWA will be contested over two days at Champions Retreat Golf Club (March 29-30). Following the 36-hole cut, the final competitive round will take place at Augusta National Golf Club on April 1.

“Playing at Augusta is like a Seminole football player running out of the tunnel at Doak Campbell Stadium, or a major league baseball player walking up to bat at Wrigley Field,” said Seminole assistant coach Robert Duck, who will caddy for Florida State’s Heath. “Walking where so many of the greats of the game have walked is special for any athlete. Watching a young lady achieve a special moment in their development is gratifying for any coach, being able to caddy and be part of that moment is even more special.”

Florida State’s nationally ranked program has been represented in each of the first four ANWA’s with a program-record three Seminoles playing this year. All-American Beatrice Wallin (2019, 2021, 2022) is the only player in the tournament’s history to earn three top-10 finishes (tied for fourth in 2022; tied for seventh in 2019, and tied for 10th in 2021) while All-American Amanda Doherty finished tied for 21st in her only appearance in 2019.

It has been the greatest of pleasures during her coaching career for Seminole Head Coach Amy Bond to watch her players compete in the ANWA.

“For women’s golf, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur is one of the best weeks of the year,” said Bond, the winningest coach in Florida State history. “The women have the opportunity to show off their skills on National TV, and to play the iconic course at Augusta National. This year we have three Seminoles who received invitations. I am so excited to get the chance to watch them.”

Florida State University Professor of Mathematics Alec Kercheval, alongside study co-author Lisa Goldberg from the University of California Berkeley, developed a new statistical method that reduced estimation errors and improved performance measurements when a small number of observations are used to estimate large quantities of data — so-called high dimensional data.

While a financial analyst can observe monthly price changes for each of the 3,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index (or any financial index) over a period of a few years, price changes occurring too far in the past are no longer relevant to future results. For this reason, the observed history is usually limited to two or three years of monthly returns, meaning the number of data points is far fewer than the total number of correlations that need to be estimated among the 3,000 stocks.

Kercheval’s research provides a way for the analyst to better estimate the future risk of proposed stock portfolios by reducing statistical uncertainties, and this new method is most useful to financial portfolio managers who often run into challenges when determining financial outcomes for their clients when the number of assets held in a single portfolio exceeds the manager’s possible observations.