Though the Seminoles lost standout guard Ta’Niya Latson to the transfer portal and other impact players to graduation, Florida State women’s basketball has reloaded with a new focus – one of balance and depth.
Head coach Brooke Wyckoff enters the season with just 10 players on roster, but she views that number as a strength, not a limitation.
“We need all of them, and they all could start for us,” Wyckoff told Rivals. “That’s what’s really cool about it… they fit our system and it’s going to be fun to figure out different rotations.”
On a team primarily full of newcomers, Florida State’s lone freshman, Mari Gerton, came in and impressed almost immediately.
“You never quite know how [freshmen] are going to adjust,” Wyckoff said. “She came in with an ankle thing, so I wasn’t sure… but she just did great. She picked things up really quickly. She’s smart, she’s a really good player, and she fits our system. We’re definitely going to be counting on her.”
Alongside Gerton, the Seminoles added several veteran transfers that will hold plenty of responsibility this season. Solé Williams, who transferred in from Texas A&M, is expected to be a central scoring option.
“We really want her to get back in the mindset of being a multi-level scorer,” Wyckoff said. “We want her with the ball in her hands, initiating offense and attacking the basket strong to score. We want her looking for her 3-point shot, of course, but really looking to play up-tempo like she’s capable of doing and being in attack mode and scoring mode a little bit more than she might have been in the last couple of years.”
Tatum Greene and Emma Risch are two other transfers Wyckoff expects to break out. Greene, a 6-3 sophomore, averaged 4.4 points per game at Boston College last season. Risch, a 6-1 junior, averaged 5.7 points per game at Notre Dame, but has been injury-plagued through her two years with the Irish.
“They’re both very capable scorers,” Wyckoff said. “For one reason or another, at their previous places they didn’t get a chance to really show that as much on a consistent basis. We’re going to need them to.”
But balance will be the identity of this group. For the last few seasons, the Seminoles leaned heavily on stars like Latson or KK Timpson to run the offense. Now, Florida State will take a committee approach.
“It’s going to be a more balanced attack for us…,” she said. “We have talented scorers that maybe don’t know how talented they are yet. That’s what excites me — them finding that out about themselves.”
For Wyckoff, the expectations are clear. The Seminoles will look different this year, but they expect to remain highly-competitive in the ACC and amongst the nation’s best.
“Our expectations are the same as they’ve been,” Wyckoff said. “We want to not only get to the tournament, but win a couple games at least… This is a motivated group that’s ready to make an impact right away.”