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🏹 The Chief Brief — Weekly Wrap | July 7th – 13th, 2025 🏹

🏹 The Chief Brief — Weekly Wrap | July 7th – 13th, 2025 🏹

The Chief
July 13, 2025

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Excited to be in Tampa tonight for @_JamieArnold13 draft event. Joining a long line of ProNoles! Well deserved. Stay tuned, More ProNoles coming in this draft. @SeminoleBooster@FSUBaseball
— Stephen Ponder (@StephenPonder)
11:06 PM • Jul 13, 2025

🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹

🏆 This Week in Garnet & Gold 🏆

🔁 Recruiting Roller-Coaster: A Monday boom — 5-star CB Chauncey Kennon — followed by a Saturday bust as FSU whiffed on three targets and saw 4-star LB DQ Forkpa delay his decision.

🎓 Academic Avalanche: Tennis (11 honorees), golf (eight), baseball (12), softball (17) and track (record 29) all dropped All-ACC Academic lists, while Lottie Woad was crowned ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and First-Team Academic All-American.

⚾ Cal Raleigh Rewrites AL History: “Big Dum-per” smashed HR No. 38 to set the American League record for pre-All-Star dingers, one shy of Barry Bonds’ MLB mark.

🏀 Hoops Heat: Luke Loucks’ first full schedule revealed a road gauntlet (at Florida, Dayton, UNC) and a neutral clash with Texas A&M; Orange Bowl Classic vs UMass confirmed.

🏟️ Alabama Opener Sold Out: Single-game tickets vanished in 24 hours — August 30 at Doak is official “standing-room only.”

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🔁 Recruiting — From Five-Star Euphoria to Weekend Whiplash

UPDATE: Class of 2026 five-star defensive back commit Chauncey Kennon is recruiting four-star defensive end target Asharri Charles (Miami commit) from Venice, Florida, to the Seminoles. 👀🍢 #GoNoles#Tribe26
— Norvell Central (@CentralNorvell)
5:02 PM • Jul 13, 2025

Date	Prospect	Pos.	Stars	Outcome	Note
Mon 7/7	Chauncey Kennon	CB	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Committed	No. 2 CB nationally; 6'1", 4.5-speed lockdown
Wed 7/9	Xavier Tiller	TE	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Committed	Auburn flip; 6'5" red-zone terror
Wed 7/9	Devin Carter	WR	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Committed	Dexter Carter legacy, OT7 standout
Wed 7/9	Jay Timmons	DB	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Committed	Nickel/safety hybrid, son of Lawrence Timmons
Sat 7/13	Rodney Colton Jr.	LB	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Colorado	Surprise Rocky-Mountain flip
Sat 7/13	Heze Kent	TE	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Florida	Depth-chart, NIL swayed him
Sat 7/13	Katrell Webb	EDGE	⭐⭐⭐	Purdue	Boilermakers beat late FSU push
Delayed	DQ Forkpa	LB	⭐⭐⭐⭐	TBD	Decision postponed; Gators rumored lead

Class snapshot: 22 commits | 14 four-stars | 1 five-star → No. 7 nationally, but linebacker/EDGE depth now top priority ahead of July 20 RB Derrek Cooper announcement.

🎓 Academic Domination Across the Board

𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑-𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 ⛳️
Lottie Woad, @FSUGolf
🔗 theacc.co/25wgolfallacad
— The ACC (@theACC)
6:00 PM • Jul 8, 2025

Program	Honorees	Notables
Women’s Tennis	5	Millie Bissett 3-time recipient
Men’s Tennis	6	Corey Craig + ITA Most Improved
Men’s Golf	3	Tyler Weaver headlines All-ACC academic list
Women’s Golf	5	Lottie Woad – ACC Scholar-Athlete, First-Team Academic AA
Baseball	12	Includes Howser winner Alex Lodise
Softball	17 (program record)	Isa Torres, Amaya Ross repeat honorees
Track & Field	29 (program record)	16 women, 13 men honoured

FSU led the ACC in total spring-semester academic selections for the third straight year.

⚾ Pro Noles — Raleigh’s Ruthian Pace & Draft Watch

Now that we’ve reached the All-Star Break, please enjoy every one of the AL-record 38 HRs Cal Raleigh hit before we got here. #BigDumper#Mariners
— Matt Loveless (@MattLoveless)
8:44 PM • Jul 13, 2025

Cal Raleigh’s First-Half Stats

38 HR (AL record, 1 shy MLB mark)
81 RBI, 8 multi-HR games, 405-ft grand slam for No. 38

Next up: Home Run Derby on Monday night; Bonds chatter already on national talk shows.

MLB Draft Outlook (July 16-18)

Jamie Arnold: consensus top-10 projection (Toronto, KC strong buzz)
Alex Lodise: late 1st/CB round per MLB Pipeline
Commit Watch: Power RHP Caden Dell (prep) could test FSU’s bonus pool strategy.

FSU could see seven current players and four commits selected — its largest total since 2013.

🏀 Hoops Heat — Schedule Set & Roster Shaping

Noles are back in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic on December 13th in Sunrise, FL 📆🏀🍊
— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops)
2:38 PM • Jul 10, 2025

Non-Conference Highlights: at Florida (Nov 11), vs Texas A&M in Tampa (Nov 28), at Dayton (Dec 16), Orange Bowl Classic vs UMass (Dec 13), ACC/SEC Challenge vs Georgia (Dec 2)
Exhibition: Oct 16 at Alabama (Birmingham) — early measuring stick for Luke Loucks.
Roster Additions: Freshman G Cam Miles, freshman F Thomas Bassong officially enrolled; 7-footer Egor Ryzhov paperwork pending.

Loucks’ first full campaign will feature 10 games vs 2025 NCAA tourney teams — a national-relevance litmus test.

📈 Trend Spotter — Ticket & Video-Game Buzz

Hype is peaking 48 days from kickoff.

⚡ Quick Hits ⚡

13 days until we’re on stage in Charlotte with Tommy Castellanos, Darrell Jackson Jr., Earl Little Jr., and Richie Leonard IV joining Coach Norvell at ACC Kickoff!
🔗: noles.co/3IAa7KK
#NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball)
2:00 PM • Jul 10, 2025

Jamir Watkins opened Summer League with 4 pts, 3 stl in 14 min; Jaylan Gainey, John Butler Jr. DNPs.
ACC Kickoff reps announced: QB Tommy Castellanos, OL Richie Leonard, CB Earl Little Jr., DT Darrell Jackson.
Video-Game NIL: Castellanos, Alex Lodise confirmed among top-cycle EA “Ultimate Team” launch cards.
Men’s Hoops at Orange Bowl Classic vs UMass confirmed for 11th straight year.

🌟 Player of the Week — Cal Raleigh 🌟

Stat	Value
HR before ASB	38 (AL record)
Multi-HR Games	8 (ties club record)
Pace	65-HR season if current clip holds
Quote	“I don’t really have words… just trying to keep it rolling.”

Raleigh’s “Statcast special” has every Mariners game must-see TV — and keeps FSU’s slugger legacy shining.

📅 On-Deck Calendar (July 15 – 22) 📅

Date	Event	Why Watch	TV/Stream
Mon 7/15	Home Run Derby	Raleigh swings for the crown	ESPN
Tue–Thu	MLB Draft	Arnold & Lodise first-round intrigue	MLB Network
Sat 7/20	RB Derrek Cooper Decision	Top-50 talent could be RB1 of ’26 class	—
Sun 7/21	Elite Camp #3	Underclass skill talent hits Doak	Seminoles Live
Mon 7/22	Fall-Camp Report Day − 14	Roster expands to 105; newcomers officially enroll	ACC N

(Times ET; recruiting dates remain fluid — keep the alerts on.)

🗳️ Fan Poll — Who Owned the Week?

And that’s a wrap!

That’s the week, Chief: five-star fireworks, GPA flexes, schedule reveals, and a slugger chasing Bonds. Next up: Derby swings, draft drama, and another round of commitment suspense. Keep the sunscreen handy — the summer surge is still heating up.

Stay locked, stay loud, and — as always — Go Noles!
— The Chief