Florida State Basketball to Add Partnership Patch to Jersey

The Florida State basketball program will have an added design element to their basketball jerseys for the 2026-27 season. Corporate America continues to grab a foothold in college sports, and the company Reliaquest will be no stranger in that endeavor.

According to a story by Steve Samra, who covers basketball for On3, the AI and cybersecurity company will expand their ongoing partnership with the university by having a corporate patch added to the Seminoles jerseys.

Earlier this year, Reliaquest invested $1.5 million in philanthropic dollars in Florida State, the largest gift so far that directly supports AI and cybersecurity. Spearheading this partnership is Reliaquest CEO Brian Murphy, who is a Florida State alum and a member of the Board of Trustees for the university.

“This partnership will allow us to continue to push what’s possible for AI in cybersecurity,” Murphy said. “Bridging the gap between academic research and real-world application during one of the most important times in our industry.”

The seven-figure investment will fund the Reliaquest Innovation Challenge to encourage research into applications that combine AI with cybersecurity. In addition, the gift will create a curriculum to study cybersecurity, powered by AI, known as the Reliaquest Interdisciplinary Digital Badge Program.

This expanded branding partnership comes as coach Luke Loucks enters his second season as the Seminoles basketball coach. Loucks, a former Florida State guard, led the Seminoles to an 18-15 record, 10-8 in ACC play. In the ACC tournament, the Seminoles lost 80-79 to No. 1 seed Duke. The Seminoles later declined to play in the NIT.

Corporate partnerships with college sports are becoming more commonplace, especially in college football. 25 football programs will display partnership patches on their jerseys this season, including:

Notre Dame and SoFi: Deal worth $18-$20 million.

Ohio State and JP Morgan Chase: Deal worth $17 million.

Illinois and Busey Bank: Deal worth $30 million over five years.

Michigan State and MSU Federal Credit Union: Deal worth $40 million over 10 years

With this influx of money into college athletics, schools can presumably continue to fund all of their sports and scholarship initiatives.  

The Reliaquest patch will be displayed prominently as Florida State will begin the season with a 14-game non-conference slate on their basketball schedule. Nine of those games will be played on the Seminoles home court at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Some of those opponents include:

Florida A&M, November 2: coached by former Florida State Heisman Trophy winner and basketball star Charlie Ward.

Troy: November 6

Florida: November 10

Tennessee: December 1 in the ACC/SEC Challenge

Texas A&M: in Houston on December 12

Jacksonville: December 16

Houston: December 20

Bethune-Cookman: December 22

Before the official start to the season, Loucks will lead the Seminoles into three exhibition games against Mississippi State (Oct. 10), Auburn (Oct. 14) and LSU (Oct. 24).