Sue Semrau Position: Head Coach Experience: 11th Year Alma Mater: California-San Diego, '85

If the end of Sue Semrau's first decade as the Florida State head women's basketball coach is any indication, year No. 11 should be the best yet.

The year-long celebration of Semrau's 10th season in Tallahassee culminated with Florida State reaching the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the fi rst time in school history. In addition, the Seminoles had another "first" as they ended the year ranked 19th in the USA Today/ESPN women's coaches poll. It was the highest FSU has ever been ranked at the conclusion of the season and matched the highest ranking at any point in the year.

Last season the Seminoles strung together their third-straight 20-win season, posting a 24-10 overall mark while finishing fourth in the ACC at 10-4 for the second year in a row. The last three years have been the best three-year run in school history as the Seminoles have amassed 68 victories. In addition, FSU has won 29 ACC games during that stretch which is also the most in a three-year span. Since 2004-05, only Duke, Maryland and North Carolina have won more overall and ACC games than FSU.

The winningest coach in school history, Semrau starts her 11th season with a career record of 160-138 while her 68 ACC triumphs are 10th in league history. She needs three more conference victories to move up to eighth on the league list.

There was an early indication that the 2006-07 campaign was going to be a special one for the Seminoles as they started the year by winning 10 of their first 11 games, including a 22-point throttling of in-state rival Florida. A two-game setback at the end of the calendar year only refocused Florida State as it started the ACC slate by winning its first four games. The four conference losses came to 2006 National Champion Maryland, 2007 Final Four participant North Carolina, regular season champion Duke and ACC Tournament finalist NC State.

A third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament awaited the Seminoles as they were matched up with Old Dominion in the first round of the Fresno Regional. The Seminoles earned their third-straight opening round victory by dispensing the Lady Monarch, 85-75, and set up a second round match up against Stanford on its home court.

Looking to get back at the Cardinal after it knocked FSU out of the 2006 tournament, the Seminoles played their best down the stretch and pulled away for the 68-61 triumph and the school's fi rst spot in the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, the magical run ended in Fresno as Florida State ran into a hot LSU team on its way to Final Four. The Tigers ended the Seminoles season with the 55-43 decision.

Numerous individual awards were bestowed upon the Seminoles in 2007. Senior Alicia Gladden was named Third-Team All-ACC and for the third time in four years FSU was represented on the ACC All-Freshman Team with Jacinta Monroe's selection. In addition, Gladden was chosen for the ACC All- Defensive Team for the third year in a row.

Those accolades are nothing new for Semrau's players as FSU has been bringing home some series hardware over the last 10 years. Gladden and Monroe's honors gave FSU 19 All-ACC awards during Semrau's tenure to go along with a pair of ACC Coach of the Year accolades (2001 & 2005).

Florida State players have garnered national attention under Semrau's watch. Following the start of FSU's current three-year NCAA run in 2005, Roneeka Hodges was named All-American. The first Semrau prodigy to earn All-America honors was Brooke Wyckoff with her Second-Team selection in 2001. Both players are currently playing professionally in the WNBA and are two of FSU's four players to be drafted into the WNBA.

As well as Florida State has done on the court during Semrau's 10 years, the student-athletes have been even more successful in the classroom. The Seminoles led all conference schools with three players on the 2007 All- ACC Academic Women's Basketball Team, but leading the way academically has been nothing new for Florida State.

Since its inception in 1998, Florida State has had 23 members on the All-ACC Academic Women's Basketball Team, which is eight more than the next closest school. In addition, since Semrau took over the program, FSU has had 63 ACC Academic Honor Roll selections, which also leads the conference.

Local basketball enthusiasts are taking note as home attendance continues to grow. In 2006-07, a record 1,119 season tickets were sold (increase of 104.6%). The average home attendance last season was 2,010 (increase of 48.2%), which included six games that made the Top 10 Attendance List for FSU women's basketball. Topping the chart was the record 4,732 fans that attended the FSU-Maryland game on February 15th. More than 26,100 fans attended women's games in 2006-07, which shows the tremendous progress of this program.

While Semrau notes the courage of the players she's had in her program, perhaps she should realize that those players were just following in her footsteps because Semrau will do just about anything for her women's basketball program.

She proved just that when she camped outside of the Donald L. Tucker Center for two days and two nights in an effort to sell 3,000 tickets for the last home game of the 2005-06 season. It's not like Semrau likes the great outdoors, but when she puts her mind to something, there's usually no stopping her.

"The thing I love most about Florida State is the people who support us," Semrau said. "It's unbelievable to be at an FSU football game with 80,000 awesome fans. I want my players, who have done so much to elevate our women's basketball program, to experience that special atmosphere," Semrau said the week of her Tents for Tickets campaign.

An area outside of the Tucker Center ticket window became a home away from home for Semrau following the Seminoles' win over Wake Forest on February 23rd. Just shortly after 2 p.m. that Saturday, Semrau and her "Tent for Tickets" campaign became victorious when she sold the 3,000th ticket. In fact, a total of 3,125 tickets were sold for the women's basketball season finale vs. nationally ranked Boston College and by game time, a then-record 3,781 fans were in attendance.

With a 20-10 record in 2005-06, FSU earned back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time under Semrau's direction and just the second time in program history. The season started earlier than usual for the Seminoles when the squad, including the six incoming freshmen, gathered in early August for 10 days of practice in preparation for Florida State's trip to Italy later that month. During those 10 days, the Seminoles would realize their task ahead. Not only would they have to replace the explosiveness and leadership of departing seniors Roneeka Hodges and Linnea Liljestrand, they would have to figure out a way to mesh six newcomers with nine returning Seminoles. Unfortunately, due to NCAA rules, the incoming freshmen were not allowed to travel to Italy but they were never far from the Seminoles' thoughts.

On the court in Italy, the nine returning Seminoles went 4-0 and averaged 97.8 points per game and held opponents to 47.8 points per game. There were also several strong individual performances but for Semrau and her team, off of the court proved to be just as successful. The Seminoles created memories to last a lifetime with visits to cities like Rome, Venice and Lake Como and places like The Coliseum, The Vatican and The Leaning Tower of Pisa. After 10 days of experiencing a new culture together, the Seminoles had built a bond with one another and they couldn't wait share it with the freshmen at home.

While the Seminoles felt some growing pains early in the season, they pulled together and Semrau guided them to eight wins in the final 10 regular-season games. While a fourth-place fi nish in the nation's No. 1 rated conference was a feat in itself, the fact that the league's top three teams were ranked in the top five in the nation and advanced to the Final Four made it even more impressive.

The success of 2005-06 was just a continuation of the process by which Semrau has built the Florida State program. Prior to the 2004-05 season, Semrau introduced Phase Two of the program. While the foundation and the strength of the program would remain an unwavering commitment to the total collegiate experience, Semrau made significant changes including an attitudinal shift within the program, which was geared toward a higher level of personal responsibility, selfl essness and the development of a championship mentality.

"When I arrived at Florida State seven years ago, we were winless in the ACC and had been a cellar dweller for quite sometime," Semrau explained at the time. "We had to do some things to jumpstart our program. We had a lot of courageous young people that stepped into our program who were very talented but maybe didn't have that elite level work ethic that you would hope in a contender that was year-in and year-out in the Top 20. With Phase Two, we've taken a major shift in our program to commit to a little different way of doing things."

She asked the players to "believe" in Phase Two in 2004 05 and in 2005-06, it was time for them to totally "commit" themselves to it.

Semrau also altered her own coaching style with Phase Two in order to move the program a step closer to its goals. Beginning with the 2004-05 season, Semrau made associate head coach Cori Close the offensive coordinator, assistant coach Lance White the defensive coordinator and assistant coach Angie Johnson the recruiting coordinator. The previous seven years, Semrau involved herself in every move and every decision of her program and she felt it was time to allow her assistants to take ownership and have authority with responsibility.

"I needed to make some changes for the program's and my development's sake," Semrau said.

The results were immediate and have proven successful over the long haul with back-to-back 20-win seasons. With a 24-8 record and an NCAA Tournament second round appearance in 2004-05, Semrau and her staff guided the Seminoles to one of the program's most successful seasons, which earned Semrau Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year accolades for the second time in her career. The honor was very deserving for not only what the team accomplished on the court, but for how Semrau helped her squad overcome a great deal of adversity.

Heading into the 2004-05 season, the team was dealing with devastating circumstances with the death of promising sophomore Ronalda Pierce, a projected starter who died suddenly in early June 2004. FSU would also be without two other projected starters so entering preseason conditioning, an already fragile team was without its top six scorers from the previous season. The roster was comprised of 10 players and of the 10, only five played the season before,one was coming back from a medical redshirt season and four others had never played a single minute as a Seminole.

"There are a lot of different ways that I think this team could have gone as a result of such a tragedy occurring in our program," Semrau said. "It's been incredible to watch the strength and the character that has been built into a group of people as a result of losing someone we all loved dearly. I really believe that it's going to make a difference for us this year, not only on the basketball court as we enter into Phase Two of our program, but also as we continue on with our lives outside of basketball."

FSU defied the odds in 2004-05 and for the first time in program history, the Seminoles made a national postseason tournament appearance for a third-straight season. FSU's fourth-place ACC finish in the expanded league race was no where near what the media had predicted. At ACC Media Day, the media picked FSU to fi nish eighth in the 12-team league which proved to be four spots too low. The Seminoles began the season on a mission and with a perfect 12-0 record. It was not only the best start in program history, but the most consecutive wins an FSU women's basketball team has ever strung together.

But that was just the beginning of the "firsts" Semrau would lead FSU to in 2004-05. Once the ACC season began, the Seminoles won three-straight overtime games in the same week over ranked league teams. FSU broke into the national rankings in January and spent five weeks there. It was the first time FSU had been ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll since December 2001 and the Seminoles earned their highest ranking ever in the poll at No. 19. When the team broke into the Associated Press rankings, it was the first time since 1990-91. In February, the team earned its 20th victory of the season. It was the first time since 1990-91 that FSU had earned 20 or more wins and just the fi fth time ever in the program's history.

Semrau, herself, admits that over the years, she has grown in many ways as a head coach and in that process, she has tried to pattern her coaching philosophies after coaches that she admires and respects. One of those coaches is Florida State's very own Bobby Bowden. Sure, who wouldn't want to imitate the actions of a coaching legend? But what people may not realize is that when Coach Bowden arrived in Tallahassee in 1976, he was facing a situation that was very similar to what Semrau faced when she came to FSU in 1997. The Seminole football team had won just four games combined in the two years before Bowden arrived. The Seminole women's basketball team had won just five games and had gone 0-16 in the ACC the season prior to Semrau's arrival. Both had huge challenges ahead of them and both committed themselves to revitalizing their respective programs. Bowden's success speaks for itself. He took a football program that FSU was considering discontinuing and turned it into a national power. In 10 seasons, Semrau, has taken a program from the cellar of the ACC and turned it into a program that is respected not only in the state of Florida and in the ACC, but in the nation as well.

The daunting task that faced Semrau in 1997 when she was named Florida State's third head coach in as many years certainly would have persuaded others to run the other way, but not Semrau. She had a passion and a desire to build and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way. Now, Florida State is reaping the benefits of Semrau's determination and Florida State women's basketball is definitely back on the map. Under Semrau's direction, the Seminoles have made six postseason appearances in the past seven years, including a program-best five straight, have been nationally-ranked and have finished in the ACC top four five times.

Over the years, Semrau has guided the program to many milestones, including defeating Clemson at Clemson in 2005 for the first time in FSU history. In fact, FSU had beaten Clemson just once in 24 tries, and not since 1992, and has now won 10-straight games over the Tigers. In 2003-04, the Seminoles earned their fi rst victory at Virginia. Having never beaten the Cavaliers until the 2000-01 season, FSU now has eight victories over the ACC-foe, including the program's first sweep of the Cavaliers in 2005-06. The Tribe has also become somewhat of a thorn in Duke's side over the past few years. When Semrau guided the Seminoles to an 80-74 win over the No. 2-ranked Blue Devils on February 4, 2004, it was not only the highest ranked opponent FSU had ever beaten, but it snapped Duke's 51-ACC game winning streak. In 2004-05, the Seminoles took down rival Florida, in Gainesville, snapping a 16-game losing skid to the Gators and split the series that season.

It was evident that Semrau was gaining ground on turning the program around in 2000-01 when she led the Seminoles to a No. 25 final ranking with a 19-12 record, a fourth-place finish in the ACC and its first NCAA Tournament since 1990-91. It was Florida State's first winning season since 1991-92 as well as the school's best league finish since joining the ACC in 1991. The Seminoles were the only team in the nation to defeat Duke on its home court in 2000-01, and earned their highest-ever seed in the ACC Tourney at No. 4 and advanced to the tournament's semifinals for the fi rst time. Other firsts included defeating Virginia for the first time and FSU took two of three from the Cavaliers, including a win in the ACC Tournament. The Seminoles' win over Tulane in the NCAA Tournament marked the first time that FSU has recorded a postseason victory away from Tallahassee.

Semrau received her first Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honor by the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association in 2001 after Florida State's vast improvement. Semrau's philosophy in rebuilding the Florida State program has been a simple one. Semrau runs her program in such a way where players are treated as people fi rst, students second and athletes third. It is this respect for her players that has gotten the program where it is today.

Semrau's style has been embraced by all who have come in contact with her. She has won the hearts of the Florida State media, fans and most importantly, the student-athletes, which has become very evident in her recruiting success. Semrau and her staff have brought in fi ve of the nation's top recruiting classes since their arrival. Four players have also been drafted to the WNBA since Semrau's arrival, with Hodges becoming FSU's highest draft pick, going No. 15 overall to the Houston Comets in 2005. Former Seminole standout Wyckoff, who was drafted in 2001, just finished her seventh season in the league and helped guide the Connecticut Sun to the WNBA finals in 2005. She has spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Sky.

Her commitment to community service has also been a priority for the program. The Seminoles have performed a variety of services throughout the Tallahassee area and have been known to extend a helping hand when on the road, making visits to the Boys and Girls Club at the Coalition for the Homeless in Orlando and elementary schools in Harlem, West Chester and Wadsworth, Ohio and Martinsville, Indiana.

"Anytime we can do something to help people when we're on the road, it sinks in a little deeper than even when we are in our own community," Semrau said. "It's not only important when we are in Tallahassee, but anywhere we go, there's a need."

Prior to coming to FSU, Semrau served three years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Wisconsin, under Jane Albright, where she contributed to the Badgers' three-straight winning seasons and two NCAA tournament appearances, including the program's fi rst ever back-toback 20-win seasons. Semrau was also noted for her recruiting efforts at Wisconsin with a 1995 recruiting class that ranked eighth in the country by Blue Star Index. Semrau first joined Albright at Northern Illinois in 1991 where she assisted in leading NIU to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

Prior to her hiring at Northern Illinois, Semrau served as head women's basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Occidental College in Los Angeles for four years where she compiled a 51-47 overall record. She also coached soccer for two seasons and was responsible for the administrative duties of fundraising and promotions at the Division III institution. At Occidental, Semrau was a member of the NCAA regional selection committee and chaired the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for women's basketball.

Semrau also worked as the public relations and promotions director for the L.A. Heat professional soccer team from 1986-87, and the public relations director for the Seattle Storm soccer team in the previous year.

A native of Seattle, Wash., Semrau is a graduate of Shorecrest High School where she earned all-conference honors in her senior year. She went on to attend the University of Puget Sound for two years. Semrau transferred to the University of California-San Diego in 1984 where she finished her career ranking 13th in all-time scoring and fourth in all-time assists. She graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in communications and received her master's degree in athletic administration from the University of Southern California in 1988.

An accomplished speaker, Semrau is a very popular guest speaker in the community as well as with alumni groups around the state. She is also active as a volunteer with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Currently she serves on the Board of Directors for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.