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Florida State’s Sue Semrau retires after 24 seasons

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Sue Semrau, the longest-tenured head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Florida State’s all-time winningest coach, announced her retirement Monday.

Semrau’s record at FSU was 470-271 and she led the Seminoles to 14 20-win seasons, including a string of eight straight from 2012 to 2020. Her teams made 16 NCAA tournaments and reached the Elite Eight three times.

She was elected president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in 2013 and served until 2015. She was The Associated Press coach of the year in 2015.

“It’s been a joy and a privilege to be the head coach at Florida State University,” Semrau said. “The excellent camaraderie of the coaches I worked with at FSU shaped me. I still remember on my interview Coach Bowden sitting with me and telling me that we could do this; and that he would help me. And he did. More than I could have imagined.”

Semrau wrapped up her 24th season with the Seminoles in 2021-22, guiding Florida State to its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

“It is hard to put into a few words just what Sue Semrau has meant to our athletics program, our university and the women she has inspired over her career,” athletic director Michael Alford. “Sue has represented Florida State masterfully for the last 25 years and we will always be grateful.”

Semrau took a leave of absence last season to care for her mother, who had cancer, and associate head coach Brooke Wyckoff filled in as interim head coach.

Wyckoff played for Semrau at Florida State from 1997 to 2001 and then spent eight seasons in the WNBA and is expected to be considered to replace Semrau.