Florida State Seminoles guard Justin Thomas (25) shoots for two. The Florida State Seminoles hosted the Virginia Tech Hokies for a men's basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Key FSU Basketball veteran entering transfer portal

Originally posted on Florida State Seminoles on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Mar 25, 2025 2:25 PM ET

A massive offseason for the Florida State Seminoles is underway as Leonard Hamilton steps down after 23 years as the head coach, and his former ACC Championship-winning point guard, Luke Loucks, takes his place. When a coaching change happens in college basketball, the roster usually changes significantly, and that's starting to happen now for the Seminoles.

Veteran guard Justin Thomas is entering the portal once again, looking to move on to his sixth school in his career. He still has eligibility because of a year he spent at JUCO, and a new ruling doesn't count JUCO years toward NCAA eligibility. He averaged 4.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.0 SPG while shooting 33.3% from three-point range. He joins Taylor Bol Bowen, Chandler Jackson, Anastasios Rozakeas, and Waka Mbatch in the portal.

Thomas started his career at Queens University in Charlotte for the 2020-21 season before they moved to Division 1, transferred to Navarro Junior College in Texas for the 2021-22 season, then went to UW-Milwaukee for the 2022-23 season, and then transferred to UTSA for the 2023-24 season but redshirted before ending up at Florida State.

FSU taking Thomas last offseason was a little confusing, especially considering he had stood out at any destination he played at. But he had some solid moments for the Seminoles, doing a great job of playing passing lanes on defense, but he's not a great shot-creator or ball-handler. His two three-pointers at the end of the Wake Forest game helped FSU make an improbable comeback, though.

Coach Loucks is having to navigate the transfer portal as a first-time college coach and figure out how he wants to shape the roster. He's mentioned he wants to have a pace-and-space offense with players full of skill and shooting, but it may be hard to do that in one offseason.