FSU basketball's Luke Loucks shares thoughts on new AD Jeff Purinton

Florida State men's basketball head coach Luke Loucks and new athletic director Jeff Purinton may be new to each other, but the pair share a close circle.

Purinton, who was announced as FSU's next athletic director on Monday, Nov. 9 , hired Brian Hodgson (now Providence head coach) and Ryan Pannone, the current Red Wolves head coach and friend of Loucks, during his time at Arkansas State.

Loucks said he spoke with Hodgson and Pannone about Purinton and that he's excited to have someone familiar with FSU coming into the role.

"Talked to both those guys this morning. We have some overlap. Our [sport] oversight, Doug Walker, worked with Jeff at Alabama. So there are a lot of ties, mutual friendships between myself and Jeff," Loucks said after a practice on Monday. Nov. 9. "And all great things. Obviously, to have a Florida State guy, he understands what we're trying to do here."

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While much of the focus of Purinton's hire has been on the Seminoles football program, men's basketball is a revenue generator in the modern era of collegiate athletics, and Purinton is no stranger to success on the hardwood.

He helped Nate Oats build the Alabama program into a national title contender, and both Hodgson and now Pannone have done well at Arkansas State. Another aspect of Purinton's hire that Loucks said was beneficial is Purinton's understanding of the modern NIL landscape.

While at Learfield, Purinton oversaw NIL, revenue, and multimedia relationships with SEC programs, something Loucks thinks will benefit the university.

"Probably the most important thing in this era is where he's coming from in Learfield. With the NIL, especially with the SEC, that to me just does it better than everyone else in terms of the finances of today's college teams. It sounds like Jeff has a really good grasp of not only how to operate, but how to get ahead in those areas," Loucks said.

"So for all those reasons, I'm really excited to get to know him and his family."

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney .