Florida State guard Chandler Jackson 'suspended indefinitely'
After a dismal 2022-23 season, the Florida State men’s basketball team has been desperately trying to create some positive momentum for the upcoming campaign.
Sunday night brought one more step in the wrong direction.
Sophomore point guard Chandler Jackson, who is expected to compete for a starting job this year after serving primarily as a top backup as a freshman, has been suspended from the team. The news came via the following announcement from the university:
“Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton announced Sunday night that rising sophomore guard Chandler Jackson has been suspended indefinitely from the Seminole Basketball team.”
Jackson, a 6-foot-5, 215-pounder from Memphis, averaged 3.6 points per game last season while playing 12.2 minutes per game. He played in 29 games, starting one, after missing early action with a hand injury.
This past week, just a few days before Sunday’s suspension, Warchant spoke with FSU associate head coach Stan Jones about several topics, and Jones was very high on Jackson’s development and potential.
“We didn’t get to see the best version of him, because he missed eight weeks,” Jones said. “He missed the whole six weeks of preseason and the first two weeks of the regular season, with that unfortunate thumb injury that he had.”
Jones said that Jackson is one of several returning players making impressive strides this offseason.
A former four-star prospect, Jackson shot 40.2 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line. He also finished the year with 38 assists, 21 turnovers and 19 steals.
The rising sophomore is expected to compete for the starting point guard job with returning starter Jalen Warley and newcomer Primo Spears, a transfer from Georgetown. Spears is expected to need an NCAA waiver to be cleared to play for Florida State this season because this will be his second transfer as an undergraduate student; he originally started his career at Duquesne.
Jackson was regarded as a top-100 prospect in the country coming out of high school and chose FSU over Tennessee and several other schools.
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No other information about the suspension was available Sunday evening, but “indefinitely” typically means that the circumstances surrounding the suspension are unresolved.
Florida State went 9-23 last season and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Seminoles have brought in three transfers this offseason to help revitalize the roster, and there’s a chance they could add a fourth.
The other two incoming transfers are former VCU forward Jamir Watkins and former La Salle guard Josh Nickelberry.
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