All things FSU

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Ole Miss Cheating/Pay for Play Scandal

Don't expect ESPN to embedded reporters at Ole Miss like they did for FSU folks. ESPN is no friend of the ACC.

Dan WolkenVerified account‏@DanWolken

Bruce FeldmanVerified account‏@BruceFeldmanCFB

Mattie-Lou ChandlerVerified account‏@MattieLouC
Per various sources over years, Nkemdiche family alone received 250k+ in improper benefits. #OleMiss

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/2/23/14706356/ole-miss-ncaa-allegations-hugh-freeze

Hugh Freeze’s Ole Miss faces NCAA doomsday. SEC rivals prep for either transfers or trouble

Singleshot ‏@Singleshot25

Get the popcorn ready. #OleMiss #SECpic.twitter.com/CChxuouuhQ

Singleshot ‏@Singleshot25

Hold up. A player can go on national tv & admit to cheating but isn't implicated? Only the @NCAA could figure out how to screw that uppic.twitter.com/X8XLy0kI2S

FSU History: SEC votes against accepting FSU in 1965

Singleshot ‏@Singleshot25

Just one more time the SEC was scared to accept FSU in 1965. #TBTpic.twitter.com/NHnNZwnjpB

Best Scoring Offenses/Defenses, last 5 years

Pick Six Previews‏@PickSixPreviews

Best Scoring Defense, last 5 years

1 Alabama

2 Wisconsin

3 UF

4 FSU

5 Stanford

6 LSU

7 OhioSt

8 Michigan

9 MSU

10 Clemson

11 L'ville

12 BYUpic.twitter.com/dFPPhys1Yx

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

FSU players most NFL combine invites in history

Gil BrandtVerified account‏@Gil_Brandt

Schools with most players invited to NFL combine, history:

FSU 226

FLA 224

MIA 224

USC 220

OHST 216

NEB 195

LSU 200

OKL 189

TEN 192

ALA 191

ESPN decides SEC the fastest, no matter their 40 time

Fake Bob Huggins‏@FakeBobHuggins

I can't imagine why @ESPNCFB deleted this tweet. Worldwide Leader of conference bias and shi**y mathpic.twitter.com/d8FAmdCqOm

Monday, February 20, 2017

FSU hires Jack Nicklaus firm for renovating Seminole Golf Course

http://www.wctv.tv/content/news/Jack-Nicklaus-Designs-hired-to-redesign-Seminole-Golf-Course-414197453.html

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/2017/02/19/fsu-hires-nicklaus-renovate-seminole-golf-course/98126860/

After vetting and meeting with four renowned golf course architecture firms in January, including Nicklaus Design – the global golf course design firm founded by Jack Nicklaus – FSU has teamed up with Nicklaus to renovate The Don Veller Seminole Golf Course and Club.

While the planning process looks to identify conceptual improvement ideas, phasing options and funding, everyone is in agreement:

The 18-hole, 7,147-yard university-owned course, which opened in 1962, boasts vast opportunities with its natural terrain of rolling landscape, pine and oak trees and an elevation difference of 70 feet between its highest and lowest points.

Nicklaus Design has 410 courses open for play in 39 states and 41 countries. The Nicklaus Course at Bay Point is the first and only Nicklaus Design course in Northwest Florida.

A Nicklaus 'Nole heritage

Nicklaus has strong ties to FSU, too.

Son Steve was receiver for the Seminoles in 1981, and grandson Nick O’Leary was a four-year starter (2011-14) at tight end. Four other Nicklaus grandchildren also attended FSU.

Son and Nicklaus Design President Jack Nicklaus II will be the lead designer on the FSU renovation/redesign in collaboration with his father. His former wife, Barbara Gillespie, played softball at FSU in the mid-1980s.

“Our family has a great affection for Florida State, and a wonderful history there — academically and athletically,” Nicklaus II said via email.

“We hope that our work on the Don Veller Seminole Golf Course will only help further showcase the golf program, the athletic department and the university, while also being a source of pride for the Tallahassee and Seminole community.”

A matter of course

Seminole Golf Course, located in southwest Tallahassee adjacent to Innovation Park, serves the university men's and women's golf teams. It is open to the public as well as FSU students and faculty. The par-73 course is operated by Century Golf Partners and averaged 42,000 rounds in 2016, according to regional manager Corey Hamlin.

Renovation to the course is overdue and a component of the Seminoles’ strategy – with help from the university and Seminole Boosters, Inc. – to improve their athletic facilities and team support areas over the upcoming years.

Doak Campbell Stadium and the Tucker Civic Center, home to the men’s and women’s basketball teams, have recently undergone substantial upgrades. Future projects may also include a new standalone Football Operations Center.

FSU’s golf course last underwent a major renovation in 2001, when FSU spent $5.5 million to build a new clubhouse, pro shop and restaurant facility. In 2004, it spent $2.2 million to rebuild its tees and greens and install a new irrigation system.

Renovations to the course and two-story brick facility are expected to cost between $4 million to $6 million. The project’s start date is yet to be determined.

“The timing of it and how it all gets put together, we are still trying to work through that now,” said Karl Hicks, FSU’s deputy director of athletics for external operations.

“It is exciting. (Nicklaus Design) is going to put together a design and some recommendations, and we are going to have to get the financial end in order, which will be a process. The vision for that golf course is an exciting one.”

The course was renamed in 2000 for the late Don Veller, a one-time FSU football and golf coach. It also serves the school's Professional Golf Management program. Hamlin said the club has 800 members and averages 100 tournaments a year.

The goal behind the renovations is to provide an enjoyable and challenging experience for players of all levels and help separate the course from other local and area courses. Leon, Wakulla, Gadsden and Franklin counties feature over 10 courses ranging from public, to semi-public to private.

With Jack Nicklaus expected to be directly involved in FSU’s project with his son, Bond expects the renovations to offer golfers excitement and variety.

“The more we got into it, the more excited we got about the potential,” Jones said.

“Their willingness and excitement blew me away. We are extremely fortunate and feel really confident obviously in their abilities.”

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Arenda District and College Town update

https://floridastate.rivals.com/news/q-a-with-fsu-president-thrasher-football-projects-hoops-success-more

Q: One other item I’ve wanted to ask you about is the plan that’s out there to create an Arena District around the Civic Center. Is that still in the works?
A: Yeah, the vision’s still there -- the hotel, the convention-type of hotel and all that. I think the key to getting it started, honestly, is going to be the College of Business. Getting that area where that building is going to be, and it will stretch out. If we can do that, and then in 2020 when the tax that the city of Tallahassee has offered up to help with the convention hotel, I think all those things can come together. That whole area is still growing.

You know, we just refinanced the CollegeTown Phase 3. We bought out some of the investors in Phase 1, so that’ll help refinance Phase 3. The Board of Governors approved that, along with our board. That whole area is just going to continue to boom down there. You go down there on a weekend -- my freshman granddaughter took me and my wife down there three or four weeks ago -- it’s amazing the amount of traffic and stuff that’s going on down there on the weekends. So I think that whole area will come along. We’ll see what happens, but it’s going to take a few years.