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Yesterday’s Poll Results

Today’s Poll

🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹

Happy Sunday, Seminole!

Here’s what’s on deck today — one quick hit per story so you know exactly where this edition is headed:

🎾 FSU Women’s Tennis opens the spring exactly on brand, rolling past USF and extending a now-absurd 17-game season-opening win streak.

🏀 FSU Men’s Basketball delivers another night of “almost,” letting a winnable game slip late against Wake Forest as close losses keep piling up.

🏈 FSU Football Recruiting makes a strong early impression on reclassified 4⭐ QB Champ Monds, with relationships and development — not rankings — driving the momentum.

🏹 Junior Day Buzz shows why this recruiting weekend mattered well beyond one quarterback, as peer recruiting, offers, and belief quietly stacked up across positions.

🧱 The Desir Twins Saga gets full context, revealing how patience, leverage, and NIL structure helped FSU hold the line — and keep two cornerstone defenders home.

🏀 FSU Women’s Hoops welcomes a ranked North Carolina team to Tallahassee, testing whether Thursday’s breakthrough win was a turning point or just a spark.

Let’s get into it.

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🎾🌸 FSU Women’s Tennis Opens Spring with 6–1 Win Over USF 🌸🎾

Florida State women’s tennis started the 2026 spring season exactly how it always seems to — with a win. The Seminoles rolled past South Florida Bulls women's tennis 6–1 on Saturday at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center, extending their season-opening win streak to 17 straight matches.

🔥 Doubles Set the Tone

• Eva Shaw and Millie Bissett wasted no time, opening the match with a dominant 6–0 win

• Laura Putz and Tina Li clinched the doubles point with a composed 6–4 victory after a tight start

💪 Singles Depth Shows Early

• Abby Kelliher earned her first career dual-match win (6–2, 6–3), putting FSU up 2–0

• Mary Boyce Deatherage battled through a first-set tiebreak before pulling away for a 7–6(1), 6–1 win

• Laura Putz clinched the team victory with a steady 6–3, 6–3 result on Court 3

⭐ Veterans Close It Out

• Eva Shaw rallied after dropping the first set to win 2–6, 6–2, 6–1 in her spring debut

• Millie Bissett capped the day with a gritty three-set win, finishing a 6–1 team performance

🧠 Why It Matters
This looked like a program picking up right where it left off — strong doubles, depth across the lineup, and freshmen contributing immediately. Seventeen straight opening wins don’t happen by accident.

⏭️ What’s Next
Florida State heads to Auburn next weekend for ITA Kickoff Weekend, facing Nevada as part of the Auburn Regional alongside Tulane.

👉️ See who stood out beyond the scoreline, how the lineup is shaping up early, and what this win signals heading into ITA Kickoff Weekend.

🏀💔 FSU Men’s Hoops Lets One Slip Late vs. Wake Forest 💔🏀

Florida State men’s basketball came painfully close to snapping its ACC skid Saturday night, but a late turnover and last-second sequence sent the Seminoles to a 69–68 loss against Wake Forest Demon Deacons men’s basketball at the Tucker Center.

🔥 How It Played Out

• FSU led 34–31 at halftime and built a nine-point second-half lead

• With under five seconds left, the Seminoles were up one — but couldn’t close

• A late turnover flipped possession and sealed another narrow ACC loss

📊 The Costly Numbers

• 13 turnovers led directly to 14 Wake Forest points

• Multiple late-game chances — none converted

• Another strong home effort, same frustrating finish

🧠 Why It Matters
This was the blueprint game for breaking through — solid stretches, balanced scoring, home crowd behind them — and FSU still walks away 0–5 in ACC play. Close losses are stacking up, but moral victories aren’t moving the standings.

⏭️ What’s Next
FSU heads to Coral Gables to face Miami on Tuesday night, still searching for its first conference win.

👉️ See how the final minute unraveled, who had the ball in their hands late, and why this loss stings more than most.

🏈🧲 FSU Makes Strong Early Impression on Reclassified 4⭐ QB Champ Monds 🧲🏈

Florida State Seminoles football hosted four-star quarterback Champ Monds over the weekend, and the visit reinforced why the reclassified 2027 signal-caller remains one of the most intriguing QB prospects in the country — rankings be damned.

🔥 Why Monds Might Be Underrated

• Former No. 1 QB in the 2028 class before reclassifying to 2027

• Now ranked No. 11 QB by Rivals despite limited sophomore tape due to injury

• In five games last season: 691 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs

• Freshman breakout: 2,234 passing yards, 23 TDs + 500 rushing yards, 9 TDs

📏 Prototype Traits That Fit FSU’s Vision

• Size: 6’3”, 230 lbs

• Dual-threat profile with downfield arm strength

• Florida State staff believes his skill set is well-suited for Gus Malzahn’s offense

🧠 Relationships Are the Real Driver

• Longstanding connection with Mike Norvell

• Familiarity with Gus Malzahn

• Rapid rapport forming with new QBs coach Austin Tucker, including film-room work during the visit

💬 What Monds Is Looking For

• Authentic relationships beyond football

• A development-first environment

• Comfort with patience — no rush to commit, five official visits planned this summer

🌍 The Competition Is Real
Monds confirmed heavy interest from Tennessee, Ohio State, Miami, Florida, and others, with a UF visit coming next. The race is wide open — but FSU is firmly in the mix early.

🧠 Why It Matters
This visit wasn’t about closing — it was about positioning. With quarterback boards reshuffling after Monds’ reclassification, Florida State getting him back on campus early — and reinforcing fit, trust, and development — is exactly how modern QB recruitments are won.

👉️ See who stood out beyond the rankings, how FSU is positioning itself early, and why this recruitment may hinge more on development than stars.

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🧲🏹 Junior Day Buzz: Why FSU’s Recruiting Weekend Mattered Beyond Champ Monds 🏹🧲

While four-star QB Champ Monds was the headliner, Florida State Seminoles football’s Junior Day was really about something bigger: momentum, belief, and buy-in across the board.

🔥 The Common Theme: Vision Is Landing
Across positions, regions, and recruiting timelines, one message kept coming back from visitors:
FSU’s staff is selling a clear, cohesive plan — and recruits are buying it.

Multiple prospects pointed to:

• Consistent messaging from the staff

• Emphasis on development + opportunity

• Honest conversations about roles, fit, and expectations

That combination matters more than hype at this stage of the cycle.

🧠 Peer Recruiting Is Already in Motion
Rivals300 linebacker Gregory Batson (an early FSU commit) wasn’t just visiting — he was recruiting.
He openly discussed helping build the class and named specific targets he wants alongside him, including:

• LB Jake Godfree

• OL Shavezz Dixon (who left with an offer)

• WR Jaden Upshaw

That’s an important signal: commits acting like stakeholders, not placeholders.

📈 Position Groups Gaining Real Traction

Linebacker

• Jake Godfree emphasized comfort, role clarity, and excitement about how FSU uses LBs schematically

• Strong relationship-building with the defensive staff stood out

Defensive Line / Edge

• Rivals300 DL Sam LeJeune said Tallahassee “felt like home” and praised the staff’s honesty

• Edge targets like Santana Harvey and Anthony Cavallaro highlighted development, NFL production, and early playing time

• Alabama commit JaBarrius Garror remains a live flip candidate

Running Back

• Brayden Tyson cited development and production as major selling points after meeting the new RB coach

• Ty Keys echoed the same sentiment: environment + people + energy

🧩 Why This Day Really Matters
This wasn’t about winning one recruitment.
It was about resetting perception after turbulent seasons — and early returns suggest that’s happening.

Recruits didn’t talk about facilities first.
They talked about relationships, clarity, and trust.

That’s how classes start to stack — especially when momentum builds peer-to-peer.

👉️ See which recruits left buzzing, who picked up offers, and why this Junior Day may age better than it looks on paper.

🧱🧠 Inside the Desir Twins Saga: How FSU Held the Line — and Won 🧠🧱

The Mandrell and Darryll Desir situation wasn’t chaos — it was leverage, patience, and timing colliding in the modern NIL era. And in the end, Florida State Seminoles football played it about as cleanly as possible.

🔍 How It Started: Standard Deal, Shared Terms
FSU originally signed the twins out of high school to identical, low-investment contracts — something that mattered deeply to both players. From the jump, parity between the brothers was non-negotiable.

After strong spring and fall camps — with both tracking as two-deep contributors — FSU restructured their deals into matching three-year agreements totaling seven figures over the life of the contracts.

💰 The Catch: Buyout Language That Changed the Leverage
The revised contracts included a significant buyout clause:

• Roughly $600K per player if they left

• Buyout had to be paid by the new school

• Counted against that school’s revenue-sharing cap, not excess NIL

That detail mattered. A lot.

📈 Year One Success → New Ask
After Mandrell’s breakout freshman season and Darryll’s steady year, the twins (through their agency) pushed for another adjustment.

FSU actually met the new financial ask quickly — believed to be around $800K annually per player — but negotiations dragged as additional conditions and structural changes kept getting layered on.

At that point, FSU drew a line.

⏳ The Portal Delay That Helped FSU
The twins thought they entered the portal on Jan. 9 — but hadn’t completed a required compliance step. The clock didn’t actually start until Jan. 14.

That delay mattered:

• Shortened visit window

• Other schools already allocating cap space

• Less time for aggressive counteroffers

By the time the portal entry became official, the market had cooled.

🧠 The Tipping Point
Despite officially entering the portal Wednesday:

• No visits were taken after the dead period lifted

• No rush to leave materialized

• Behind the scenes, FSU felt momentum shifting back

By Wednesday night, sources believed the twins were staying.
By Thursday evening, the deal was finalized.
An hour later, it was signed.

🤝 The Final Push
In the closing stretch, Battle’s End Collective and FSU worked in lockstep to close the gap and finalize terms — without dismantling the program’s broader financial structure.

🧠 Why It Matters
This wasn’t about “winning” a negotiation.
It was about not losing control of the program’s economics.

FSU:

• Met the money

• Protected precedent

• Used timing and structure — not panic

In an era where blinking first can haunt you for years, Florida State held firm — and kept two cornerstone defensive linemen in garnet and gold.

👉️ Get the full timeline, the contract mechanics, and why this outcome may shape how FSU handles NIL negotiations going forward.

🏀🔥 FSU Women’s Hoops Faces Ranked North Carolina After Breakthrough Win 🔥🏀

Florida State women’s basketball is back home Sunday, hosting North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball at 2 p.m. on The CW, fresh off its first ACC win of the season.

🔥 What to Know

• Tip-off: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET (The CW)

• UNC: RV/No. 23, 14–5 overall

• Series: Tar Heels lead 34–18

📊 Why This One’s Interesting

• Solè Williams leads FSU at 15.6 PPG

• Seminoles lead the ACC in free throws made and rank 2nd in threes per game

• Seniors Sydney Bowles (24 pts) and Amaya Bonner (22 pts) powered Thursday’s win at Pitt

🧠 Why It Matters
After finally closing a tight ACC game, FSU now gets a ranked opponent at home — a chance to see if that momentum is real.

👉️ See what this matchup reveals about FSU’s growth, who must step up, and whether the Noles can turn one ACC win into two.

And that’s a wrap!

This was one of those days that perfectly captures where Florida State is right now — winning where consistency exists, hurting where margins still matter, and quietly building toward something bigger underneath it all.

Some programs are already there.
Some are close.
And some are still learning how to finish.

More tomorrow.
— Chief