TALLAHASSEE – Luke Loucks’ first sports memory is of Charlie Ward.

“I had just turned four years old, maybe three, and it was that 1993 football season,” said the first-year Seminole head basketball coach. “We were watching a football game at my grandfather’s house. My pop, both of his brothers, all of our cousins … and I remember Florida State scoring. I remember that touchdown and that we are all doing the Seminole chop.

“Still to this day it gives me chills. It was the foundation of my sports fandom of Florida State.”

Fast-forward 31 years and Loucks will face Ward as first-year head coaches when Florida State plays host to Florida A&M on Sunday, October 26, at 4:00 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center in the final exhibition game for both teams before the official start of the 2025-26 season.

Tickets to the Seminoles’ exhibition game against Florida A&M are on sale here https://seminoles.evenue.net/events/MBSINGLE. Student tickets are free to students from both schools – all they will need to do is show their I.D. upon entering.

Loucks was named the head coach at Florida State on March 9, 2025.  Ward was named the Rattler’s head coach on April 21, 2025.

“I grew up a massive Charlie Ward fan,” said Loucks at a press conference earlier this week on Florida State’s campus. “Getting to know him over the past several years has been a true blessing. He is one of the all-time great athletes in collegiate athletics and had an unbelievable professional career as a basketball guy.”

The meeting will be the first between the Seminoles and the Rattlers since 1991.

Prior to the game, Ward will have his basketball jersey honored and hung in the rafters at the Donald L. Tucker Center. He led the Florida State basketball team to three NCAA Tournaments and is still the only player in history to win the Heisman Trophy and be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Ward will be the first student-athlete in Florida State history to have his jersey honored in both football (No. 17) and basketball (No. 12).

“I’m grateful for this opportunity to be back at the Tucker Center,” said Ward. “There are a lot of great emotions and memories that I was able to have while there.

“One of the things, when I got the opportunity to be at FAMU, was to make sure that we got this game on the schedule,” said Ward. “I think it’s a great opportunity for both universities and the city to be able to come together. This is a great blessing for me to be part of it all.”

Ward is the most decorated player in the history of college football and one of the top basketball players in Florida State history. After leading the Seminoles to the 1991 Metro Conference Championship, he helped usher the Seminoles into the ACC in 1992. Ward then led the Seminoles to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the Elite 8 in 1993 and the Sweet 16 in 1992.

“To be honored the way I am being honored was not the reason why I came to Florida State,” said Ward. “This honor is a byproduct of the work, the teammates and the coaching, that I was able to receive.  God gave me the opportunity to have a platform. I am grateful to have the opportunity to play in this game 34 years later.”

For Loucks, the game will be his first as a head coach in the arena where he helped lead the Seminoles to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

“For both of us, it will be the first time coaching in the gym we played in,” said Lucks. “That alone is special. That on its own is pretty cool for me.  A lot of those memories will come back.  Now to do it as a coach, and as a leader of young men, I think is going to be special to me.”

Loucks was Florida State’s starting point guard during his senior season in 2012 when he helped the Seminoles win their first ACC Championship. During his career he led Florida State to the first two appearances in the championship game of the ACC Tournament (2009 and 2012), to the championships of the 2009 Global Sports Classic, the 2010 Old Spice Classic, two victories over the nation’s No. 1 ranked team (North Carolina in 2009 and Duke in 2011), to 16 victories over nationally ranked teams, and a school record four top four finishes in the ACC standings.

Ward returns to the Tucker Center as a head coach after leading Rattlers to a 100-54 win over Edward Waters College on Monday at the Al Lawson Center on the campus of Florida A&M.

“When I was walking in this morning my son Caleb said, ‘I feel awkward in these colors (orange and green) on this campus.’ I was in the same boat, and I’ll be in the same boat on Sunday. Once you get over those emotions you still have to go out and do your job.”

While Loucks doesn’t exactly remember who the Seminoles played the first time he did the chop in Ward’s honor, you can believe it was almost certainly a victory as Florida State won the national championship that season.

The game will be streamed on ACCNX and can be and heard on the Seminole Radio Network with Jeff Culhane and Adrian Crawford.