TALLAHASSEE – For Florida State’s Chauncey Wiggins, following in his parents’ footsteps has always seemingly been his destiny.

Even before he was born, it seemed logical that the only child of LaWaynta Dawson Wiggins and Michael Wiggins would one day be a highly accomplished basketball player.

Wiggins’ first memory of bouncing a basketball goes back to when he was three-years old. His first organized basketball game came when he was barely five-years old. His first dunk came when he was 14 years old.

His mom is in the Hall of Fame at Missouri State University. She was named the Bears’ Basketball Player of the Decade (1982-92) for the first 10 seasons Missouri State played as a Division I team. Dawson Wiggins led her team to a 26-5 record and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament during her senior season.

His dad played forward at Wichita State from 1990-93. He earned playing time in 74 games and averaged 8.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. The Shockers were one of the top teams in the Missouri Valley Conference during his collegiate career.

“Since I was born, I have wanted to play at the level my parents were able to reach,” said Wiggins. “I want to make them proud and follow in their footsteps.”

During the recruiting process as one of the most highly coveted big men in the nation, Wiggins earned scholarship offers from both of his parents’ schools – Missouri State and Wichita State.

“Earning scholarship offers from both of my parents’ schools was really special,” remembers Wiggins. “I really wanted one from my dad’s alma mater after I got one from my mom’s.”

While he decided to play the first three seasons of his college basketball career at Clemson, Wiggins begins his final collegiate season as a Seminole on November 4 in Florida State’s regular season opener.

Wiggins is the most experienced player on head coach Luke Loucks’ first Seminole team. He has played 97 career games – including 58 ACC games, five NCAA Tournament games, and one NIT game – with his considerable experience coming as an important piece of Clemson’s success in the last three seasons.

Wiggins is a proven shooter who has made 85 3-point shots during his career. He has shot better than 36 percent from beyond the 3-point arc and made his single-season career-high of 42 3-point shots during the 2024-25 season. He’s also a career .767 free throw shooter and shot a career-high .806 from the free throw line during his third collegiate season.

Wiggins was a member of Clemson’s NCAA Tournament Elite 8 team in 2024.

While his pedigree suggested that he would be a successful basketball player all along, Wiggins realized that he might have a future as a basketball star when he was 10 years old.

“I realized in sixth grade I was going to be tall,” said the 6-10 newcomer to the Seminoles’ roster. “I was always the tallest of my friend group. It was in the sixth grade when I began to take basketball seriously.”

Wiggins’ began to shine and his basketball talents were realized during his career at Grayson High School in Georgia.

He averaged 12.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.8 blocks as a senior and was ranked as one of the top five prep players in the state of Georgia during his senior season. He was considered to be one of the most versatile players in the state and was an elite top-50 prospect in the nation as a high school senior. He chose to play at Clemson over scholarship offers from NC State, Georgia, South Florida, Maryland, Missouri State, and Wichita State.

Wiggins credits his mom and dad, and how they played the game of basketball, for his own personal style of play.

“I have been a shooter my whole life,” said Wiggins. “The way Coach Loucks wants to play fast is the style that I like to play. I’ve learned what it takes to win big-time games – it’s the little things – that you have to do to get to March Madness. I think my role here at Florida State will be to do everything I can do to help this team win.”

Wiggins thoughts echo those of Loucks and his coaching staff about the expectations for the star player who was named to the 2024 ACC Academic Honor Roll and the 2025 All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team.

“Our staff really wanted Chauncey to be a Florida State Seminole during the recruiting process,” said Loucks. “His experience as a collegiate player and especially in the ACC is going to help us win games this season. Chauncey has the ability to put pressure on the defense because of his height and shooting ability. He can also challenge the opponents’ offense with his athleticism and ability to switch and defend at all five positions because of his athletic ability.”

In two games against Florida State during the 2025 season, Wiggins scored 22 total points, totaled 12 rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal. In six career games against Florida State, he averaged 6.5 points per game.

As his first fall semester at Florida State begins, Wiggins is certainly looking forward to beginning his basketball and academic career as a Seminole.

“The best parts of being at Florida State began with meeting my new teammates and our coaching staff,” said Wiggins. This campus is amazing, and I can’t wait to start the season. “I’m looking forward to winning and working throughout the season with my teammates.”

Just like his parents did when they were college basketball stars.