Kobe MaGee is ready to make an impact in a new era of Florida State men’s basketball.
At ACC Tipoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, MaGee will sit beside head coach Luke Loucks and fellow transfer Chauncey Wiggins, as the Seminoles usher in a new era of basketball after two decades under Leonard Hamilton’s leadership.
A Pennsylvania native, MaGee transferred from Drexel to start somewhere fresh after his junior campaign and he was Loucks’s first commitment in the transfer portal. Since he signed in March, he has quickly become the face of leadership in the locker room.
“I am one of the oldest guys on the team, so I’m just naturally taking on a leadership role. I’ve been through and experienced the hardships of basketball,” MaGee said.
A three-year player at Drexel, MaGee comes to FSU after averaging 14 points per game with 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. He’s a talented shooter, shooting 48% from the field and 44% from three last season, an area of the game that Loucks wants his Seminoles to excel in this season, making MaGee a natural fit.
He said that Loucks’s NBA experience and the trust of program GM and assistant coach Michael Fly made it easy for him to commit. MaGee credited the Seminoles for being “proactive” in his recruitment, something that stood out against other programs recruiting him.
“I think what made me sign was they weren’t reactive, they were proactive. They put every hint on the table first,” MaGee said. “Other schools were kind of basing their deals off other schools. Florida State was the right move, and obviously his [Loucks] NBA background is definitely a plus for us, but it was more just the environment they showed off rip.”
His energy has provided a boost in practice for the Seminoles and throughout the facility. Something that stands out is the joy with which MaGee plays the game.
Watch a practice or run into him walking around the Seminoles basketball facility, and MaGee has a smile on his face. He’s grateful for his opportunity after coming from a mid-major, like most of FSU’s transfers.
Kobe MaGee, FSU men’s basketball, has a ‘chip on our shoulder’
Loucks brought in transfers from primarily mid-major programs, with Wiggins the lone exception coming from Clemson.
MaGee feels the team has a chip on its shoulder, and he feels like FSU has a talented squad with players who may have been overlooked in their careers. While the internal belief is high, the Seminoles are picked near the bottom of most ACC predictions, including being picked 15th in the USA TODAY preseason predictions.
It’s something that Loucks has used to motivate the group, and MaGee said it contributes to the chip on the shoulder that the team has.
“Having a chip on our shoulder, we have something to prove. Every list that came out, rankings, we were near dead last, so that’s on our minds every day. That’s a new motto, like every time we do we do something wrong, they bring up where we are in the rankings, and it makes us fight harder,” MaGee said.
“Everyone at a mid-major, we were all overlooked. If you’re a mid-major prospect, you’re overlooked … so that chip on our shoulder is something we carry every day.”
As the Seminoles continue preseason and prepare for their first exhibition against Alabama, MaGee said he wants to keep the same excitement he’s felt throughout the preseason. He credits his “day one” mentality and has tried to instill it into the team.
“I am very excited. But the way I approach every day is like it’s Day 1. Everybody knows what it feels like to first get to a school and first have a practice or workout, what that is, that excitement, that’s how I approach every day,” MaGee said. “When you have that mentality, everything changes, your day changes, the way you look at things changes, your approach to the game changes.”
The Seminoles are less than a month away from tip-off of the regular season, and while MaGee played in some big games with Drexel, he’s excited for the stage of playing in the ACC and some of the nation’s top programs on FSU’s schedule.
The Seminoles will play three of last season’s Final Four (Duke, Florida and Houston), and face seven programs that made the NCAA tournament in 2025. It’s a gauntlet of a schedule, set up in a way that Loucks wants, and MaGee doesn’t feel the team is going to shy away from the competition.
“It’s exciting, for me personally, I’ve never been in that environment before. I used to watch these teams on TV, growing up all the time, and now I’m here,” MaGee said. “There is no nervousness behind it, though; it’s just all the love of the game. Respect all, but fear none.”
Florida State men’s basketball’s schedule
Bold identifies ACC games
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU basketball has a new coach and new culture. And now it has a new leader in Kobe MaGee
Reporting by Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
