Noles News: FSU offers trio of blue-chip quarterbacks after losing commit

Blue-chip quarterback Brady Smigiel had been signaling for a bit that he would likely re-open his recruitment with the changes on Florida State’s staff, and with several programs amping up their pursuit of him, he made the decision to recommit for FSU on Sunday.

The Seminoles moved quickly, with blue-chip quarterbacks Keisean Henderson (current Houston commit), Landon Duckworth and Bowe Bentley all receiving offers from Florida State:

Henderson, the No. 1 athlete in the 2026 class, has been committed to the Cougars since May 2024. He made the switch to quarterback in 2023 after starting off as a receiver, being named the All-American Bowl MVP (the first-ever high school junior to do so) and currently holds offers from the likes of the Georgia Bulldogs, Colorado Buffaloes, LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Penn State Nittany Lions and Texas Longhorns.

Duckworth, the No. 9 quarterback in the class and Alabama state champion, has offers from the Auburn Tigers, UCF Knights, Oregon Ducks, Ole Miss Rebels, and Kentucky Wildcats, among others.

Bentley, the No. 18 quarterback in the class, also holds offers from the Oklahoma Sooners, Missouri Tigers, Wisconsin Badgers, Boston College Eagles and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, amongst others.

FSU did get some good news on the recruiting trail, with new offensive line coach Herb Hand securing another prospect for the Seminoles’ 2025 class — four-star offensive lineman Chastan Brown:

Northside High School. Brown is currently ranked as a four-star and the 351st best player in the nation by 247Sports Composite (29th best OT, 48th best player in GA).

Brown holds over 30 offers and was pledged to the UCF Knights from July to November, quickly reopening things after Gus Malzahn resigned to become the new offensive coordinator for Florida State.

FSU hosted Brown on a January 25 official visit. Herb Hand was able to seal the deal for the Seminoles while holding off the Arkansas Razorbacks and Missouri Tigers, both of whom pushed hard for Brown after his decommitment. The Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were also involved.

Brown has the height, length, frame, and athleticism to become a multi-year starter. His first season playing football was in 2023 and all he did was win the Georgia Region 1-AAAAAA offensive lineman of the year award. Brown has a productive background on the AAU circuit in basketball and has shown marked progress in the past two seasons, anchoring the Northside OL from the left tackle spot.

Football

After releasing the dates for the Virginia and Miami games, the ACC will finally put out the full slate for all its conference members at 9 p.m. tonight during a two-hour ACC schedule special on the ACC Network.

2025 FSU schedule:

• Aug. 30: Alabama Crimson Tide (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• Sep. 6: East Texas A&M Lions (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• Sep. 20: Kent State Golden Flashes (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• Sep. 26: Virginia Cavaliers (Scott Stadium, Charlottesville)
• Oct. 4: Miami Hurricanes (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• Nov. 29: Florida Gators (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville)
• TBA: Clemson Tigers (Memorial Stadium, Clemson)
• TBA: Pitt Panthers (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• TBA: Virginia Tech Hokies (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• TBA: Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee)
• TBA: NC State Wolfpack (Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh)
• TBA: Stanford Cardinal (Stanford Stadium, Stanford)

Florida State will once again have a presence in the Super Bowl, with four players representing the Seminoles: wide receiver Johnny Wilson and defensive end Josh Sweat of the Philadelphia Eagles, defensive linemen Derrick Nnadi and Fabian Lovett Sr. (practice squad) of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Basketball

Ta’Niya Latson added yet another piece of evidence in her case as the best basketball player in the country, hitting a buzzer-beater on the road to help Florida State take down No. 13 North Carolina:

North Carolina was an 8.5 point favorite.

FSU has now won the last five games in Chapel Hill. The Seminoles have won nine of their last ten games against the Heels.

There are several players who stepped up for FSU in this game. Obviously Latson was huge especially at winning time as she had nine points in the fourth quarter. Bowles was clutch delivering much needed scoring punch from deep. Malea Williams almost had a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. Her contributions are extremely important as Avery Treadwell continues to miss time with the injury she sustained in practice. Timpson delivered like she always does with a complete game of scoring, defense and rebounding.

Florida State played very well in this game. The Seminoles shot the ball well (40.3% FG, 15-16 FT, 9-20 3PT) and they held their own on the back boards with both teams grabbing 39 total rebounds. The Noles also played fairly clean basketball with only seven turnovers. This was important because UNC did not give this game away. The Tar Heels played really well themselves in this game. They lost just because Florida State played a little bit better. When FSU plays at this level they can hang with almost anyone and they proved that today.

This was a very important game for Florida State because it is one of the few Q1 games left on the regular season schedule. If the Noles want to capture a top four seed they need to prove to the committee that they can beat good teams. Today’s game was a perfect opportunity to do so and the Seminoles took full advantage. Although there is a lot of season left, the Noles have also put themselves in much better position to secure a top four seed in the ACC Tournament which is really important because the top four seeds earn a double-bye.

Finally, this game may give Florida State some momentum and an increased confidence level going forward. FSU had not looked great on the road before this game but if today’s performance becomes closer to the norm for this team they may have turned a corner on the season.

All Sports

No. 21/25 FSU men’s swimming will wrap up its home schedule with a meet vs. the Miami Hurricanes:

The Seminoles are unbeaten in 2025, with home victories over Villanova and Tampa on January 8 and 24, respectively. FSU is ranked No. 21 (men) and No. 25 (women) in the January CSCAA Coaches Poll. Nine ACC men’s teams and eight women’s squads are currently ranked nationally.

Miami, which has a women’s swimming & diving team and men’s divers, is 7-1 in dual meets following a 194-104 win over Houston at home on January 17. The Hurricanes’ lone defeat came at Yale in November, and they own an ACC win over SMU.

The FSU-UM series returns to Tallahassee for the first time since 2019-20 when Florida State earned a 230-64 win. Since then, the Seminoles downed the Hurricanes twice in Coral Gables, 157-143 in 2022-23 and 197-103 in 2021-22.

On Friday, Florida State won 23 of 28 events to defeat Tampa on Senior Day. In the final team scores, the FSU women were victorious 196-65 and the men won 183-79. The women claimed victory in 12 of 14 events and the men won 11 of 14. The women took at least the top three spots in nine events, including showings where they swept the top five, six, seven and eight places. The men finished first and second in seven events and earned the top four and five places in another two.

The regular season will conclude with another in-state matchup, as FSU faces Florida on Friday, January 31, at 12 p.m. ET. The matchup will once again be hosted in Ocala, Florida, at Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training.

No. 10 Florida State men’s tennis fell 4-2 to No. 15 San Diego in the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend:

The Seminoles were tasked with three ranked doubles pairings from San Diego and rose to the occasion. Jamie Connel and Jan Sebesta used a strong start at 3-1 to pull away and deal the first blow with a 6-2 win on Court 3. Connel and Sebesta earned their second doubles win of the season and first-ranked win of the year over the No. 72 doubles team.

Joshua Dous-Karpenschif and Erik Schiessl found themselves down 3-1 before striking back with four consecutive games and securing the doubles point at 6-3 over the No. 88 ranked pairing in the nation. Dous-Karpenschif and Schiessl sealed a second consecutive doubles point in back-to-back days to extend the early spring season record to 4-0.

San Diego struck back five first-set wins across six courts. The Toreros clinched singles matches on Courts 1, 3, and 4 to put themselves within match point.

FSU responded with two second-set wins from Alex Bulte and Dous-Karpenschif, setting up three third sets to decide the match.

Bulte completed an incredible three-set victory to put FSU within one point. Bulte claimed his first career win on Court 2, his highest-rated court win. Despite an epic fight to put the match within reach, San Diego sealed the elusive fourth point to clinch the match.

The Seminoles will host in-state rival No. 24 Florida for the first time since 2015. The match will be played on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center.

Florida State junior Luke Clanton finished tied for 15th place at the Farmers Insurance Open:

Despite windy conditions throughout the week, Clanton opened shooting 70 and 72, making his seventh PGA cut, sitting at 2-under par. By making the cut, Clanton was one of two amateurs to make the cut for the first time in 55 years at the tournament.

Clanton also earned his 18th PGA Tour University Accelerated point, just two shy of the 20 needed for a PGA Tour card.

Clanton finished out the week shooting 72 and 73, tying for 15th.

Former Seminoles Vincent Norrman, John Pak and Cristobal Del Solar also played through the tournament.

Norrman tied for 40th at 2-over, and Pak followed in 56th at 6-over. Del Solar shot 8-over, tying for 66th.

No. 24 Florida State women’s tennis split a doubleheader in Orlando, beating Bethune-Cookman but falling to No. 23 UCF:

Maria Juliana Parra Romero and Eva Shaw earned a victory on Court 1 in the match against UCF defeating Sophia Biolay and Aya El Aouni 6-3. On Court 2 Laura Putz and Millie Bissett earned a ranked win defeating No. 65 Hannah Rylatt and Olivia Lincer, capturing the doubles point for the Noles.

FSU got out to an early 3-0 lead in singles play. On Court 6 Tina Li won in straight sets defeating Rylatt 6-2, 6-2. On Court 3 Mary Boyce Deatherage earned her first ranked win of her collegiate career defeating No. 85 Biolay 6-4, 6-3. UCF would then win on Courts 1, 2, and 4 to win the match 4-3.

Match two against Bethune-Cookman went straight into singles. FSU earned its first point of the match due to a forfeit on Court 6. Li improved to 2-0 on the day defeating Allexii Bassette 6-0, 6-0 on Court 3. Cade Cricchio defeated Lesa Snipes-Williams in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 on Court 5. Monfils captured the point-clinching victory defeating Keona Burley 6-0, 6-1. .

Florida State will be back at home for another doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 9, beginning at 11:00 a.m. against Georgia State and Mercer.