By Kerry Dunning

Winter, 2018

What do a coach, a pro basketball player and a pole vaulter have in common? A lot it seems, if you are talking about bringing three very successful women to Florida State athletics.

Florida State basketball coach Sue Semrau coached assistant basketball coach Brooke Wyckoff and FSU Senior Associate Athletic Director Vanessa Fuchs. Fuchs and Wyckoff were roommates and teammates all four years at Florida State. And for the last eight years, all three are back on campus in game-changing roles.

It’s better than a great sports story.

Sue Semrau

Semrau’s list of accolades fills pages in Florida State history, including multiple coach of the year and ACC coach of the year awards, but winningest coach in Seminole history exemplifies a coach who mentors and challenges women to reach their potential off the court as much as on the hardwood.

With no goal of leaving Wisconsin, where she was an assistant under Jane Albright there and at Northern Illinois, it was Bobby Bowden who aided in the recruiting process.

“At the time I wasn’t looking for a head job. I just was really happy with what we were doing at Wisconsin,” said Semrau. The Badgers were ranked eighth in the country and third in attendance while the Seminoles’ program had a couple of coaching changes and a sub .500 prior season. “When it came to Florida State, it wasn’t something I thought I would be interested in because of the state of the program.”

But Semrau decided to take the next step and interview in Atlanta, followed by an on campus interview and meeting with the legendary football coach.

“After I sat down with Coach Bowden and heard his story, then it felt like something I was supposed to do,” Semrau said. “He was a mentor to me for the entire time he was here. There were so many things from taking a program that had different coaches (Semrau was the third coach in three years) to having a tough year to start, so honestly he was one of the biggest reasons I came.”

Vanessa Fuchs

Fuchs wasn’t recruited by Semrau but, when Chris Gobrecht left after a single season to coach at her alma mater, Fuchs and Semrau met. But in reality, the recruitment may have started at birth.

“Growing up my Dad would have FSU games on whether it was football, baseball, whatever we could have on at that house,” said Fuchs about Don Fuchs, a pole vaulter who came to Tallahassee from Garfield, N.J. “It was just always a goal of mine that FSU would be where I wanted to go to school.”

Fuchs tells the story of writing a letter her freshman year of high school, in which she wrote that she wanted to win a state championship, to be in the top 10 in her class and to win a scholarship at FSU.

When she opened the letter in her senior year Fuchs had already signed with FSU. Then she finds out Semrau will be her coach, leading to another goal. Fuchs was a thrower (discus and shot put) and wanted to go out for track. Semrau agreed, and prior to an ankle injury she made the ACC championships as a freshman.

“Sue is one of my lifelong mentors,” said Fuchs. It was tested early when she went to Semrau as a freshman and said she wanted to transfer. “It was typical freshman adjustment from being the one who was playing to suddenly realizing you might be more of a role player.”

Fuchs says Semrau stopped her immediately, telling her she was much more than a basketball player. She planted the message that Fuchs needed to find ways to make herself an asset.

“From that point on, I totally changed my mindset to really focus on being the best practice player I could be, the best on the team academically and really making sure my teammates were staying on track academically, serving the community, getting involved in the athletic department organizations for students,” Fuchs said. “Best advice I’d ever received.”

She graduated Magna Cum Laude and the administrator was born. Fuchs was promoted to Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator in 2012. In 2013 former FSU president Dr. Eric Barron named her the school’s interim athletics director (the first woman to hold that position). In 2015 Women Leaders in College Sports named her the DI Administrator of the year.

Brooke Wyckoff

Wyckoff says her recruiting process was very random and, in her words, basically a mess. A Cincinnati area resident, she says, “I only knew Florida State because I knew who Charlie Ward was. At the end of everything, it was a feeling, a gut feeling, that this was the place for me and this was the right situation.”

Thank you, Charlie Ward.

Wyckoff was one of the greatest players ever, an all-American, and four-time all-ACC academic selection. Her jersey number was retired in 2006.

Her timing also worked out as she also started with Semrau as the head coach, and she says, “the rest is history. It is scary to think how precarious the whole thing was and how well it worked out.”

Wyckoff’s 1,350 career points is the 14th most in school history. She ranks second in career blocks with 209 and her 804 rebounds puts her seventh on the list. Wyckoff, along with Fuchs and Semrau, was part of the first winning season in nine years (2001) and part of the team that made a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years. All of this led her to a pro basketball career, something shared with Ward.

“I was very fortunate that the first year of the WNBA was my freshman year of college,” says Wyckoff. “It was cool to be in college and have a tangible goal.”

In its infancy the WNBA was fragile, but Wyckoff adds, “We knew this was something special and unique, and nothing can be taken for granted. It was a great experience; that and going overseas (played for Estudiantes in Spain). Not only did I have the privilege of playing pro and making money, but the life experience you get. Living overseas is life changing.”

Fate shows up again in the lives of this trio. Wyckoff retires from pro sports because of an injury. Fuchs, who has been working at the NCAA, takes the administrative job at FSU. Semrau is still the head coach.

“One day I get a call from Sue and she says, ‘Guess who I’m considering for my open coaching position?’ ” Fuchs smiles at the memory. “And I knew. Brooke Wyckoff.”

Semrau, under the mentorship of Bowden; Fuchs and Wyckoff under Semrau’s mentorship. And that led to mentorship of so many women athletes now impacted by this trio. But their reach and understanding of the complete athlete goes beyond the FSU campus.

Semrau read an article about a non-profit organization distributing shoes around the world, and she took the next step by calling Emmanuel Ohonme, the founder of Samaritan’s Feet. She was moved by his story of a missionary coming from the US, teaching them basketball and giving away a pair of shoes. Ohonme came to the US on a scholarship, but when he returned home, he passed that same park, and kids were still barefoot.

“He was a successful businessman and thought he could play a small part in giving people hope that they can do something that was never in the realm of their own possibilities,” said Semrau, and she became the first woman ambassador for the program, and traveled to Nigeria to volunteer time.

And now the program has a “world shoe,” one that contains an anti-microbial that is preventing the spread of diseases. “So it is really about life and death as much as it is about giving a kid a pair of shoes,” she reflects.

Wyckoff is a founding member of Moms in Coaching. The birth of her daughter, Avery, who is also Semrau’s godchild, gave her pause or panic, depending on what part of the story she is telling, in realizing how hard it would be to continue coaching and raise a child.

“The idea came from realizing there were so many of us and we didn’t even know who each other were. This is something we needed to know for support because it gets very lonely,” said Wyckoff. They started meeting at the Final Four, and have a newsletter and social media. “But we are all doing it and making it work. The biggest goal is to keep women in coaching.”

Fuchs is the Title IX Deputy Coordinator for athletics, for both men’s and women’s sports. She serves on the ACC Women’s Basketball, Women’s Volleyball, Autonomy and SACC committees. In 2015, Fuchs was also appointed to the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee.

It was under her purview this 50th year anniversary of women’s intercollegiate sports got underway. After two years of planning came alive with the Garnet and Golden celebration in September and will end with a gala. In between team reunions and other events will highlight and honor women athletes at FSU.

Fuchs and a committee of who’s who have done the planning. Patches will be worn on all team uniforms (a sticker has been added to the football helmets), and the effort is supported by websites for the general public and one specific to FSU athletes. There is also a website for apparel.

“That opening weekend, a lot of women who came back – some who hadn’t been back since they played here – were thrilled that we were honoring them and bringing recognition and awareness,” said Fuchs.

The celebration is also garnering more involvement and interest in women’s sports going forward. Soccer and softball have won national championships. Beach Volleyball was runner-up in the NCAAs. Other sports are now routinely winning ACC titles.

“I’m so proud of women’s sports here,” said Wyckoff. “At Florida State never once, as an athlete, did I feel I wasn’t valued. Now as a coach I see things differently, but FSU brings in coaches that care – like Sue. Their No. 1 goal is to get these young women the experience they’ve earned through hard work and make it top of the line.”

Fuchs adds, “It’s amazing of how the success, doesn’t matter which sport is winning, they are all winning.”

But the story isn’t ending with 50 years. Fuchs continues to be involved with funding all the programs for excellence. “If you look at the comparables and where we stand in each individual sport, in the ACC in terms of operating budgets we are at the top in almost every one of our sports (thanks to our donors).”

Wyckoff says she was recently reminded, through a podcast, that men broke barriers too. Specifically, the podcast talked about breaking the 4-minute mile.

“Sports is just a microcosm of our larger society, so on one hand I want to be patient. But we are behind. There are good moments where there is a lot to be proud of and a lot to be thankful for.”

Semrau points to the basketball court to say it is the exact same court both men and women play on. The basket is the exact same height as the men’s.

“But our average height is 5’7” while theirs is 6’1”. So now you are looking at a six-inch difference in us,” she says. “To me that speaks to us as women. It seems that we must reach higher with less than the men. So celebrate where we’ve come but celebrating on creeping up on equality is important.”

Semrau teaches that you don’t just celebrate the big things, but you have to have a vision, and a plan, because it is a long journey. She passed that message on to Fuchs and Wyckoff during their playing days.

“You celebrate the past that led to the layup,” she summarizes. “You keep it in perspective and definitely celebrate (50 years) but then say, ‘we’ve not done nothing yet.’ ”