The Florida State women’s basketball team would like to forget last season ever happened as the Seminoles finished with a dismal 10-21 record and went 5-13 in ACC play. For a team that had made the NCAA tournament five straight years leading up to last season, the result was surprising.

There were some limitations to last year's team, one being a lack of an inside presence on the low block, the inability to play consistent defense and at times trouble getting the ball across halfcourt. The budget for women's basketball last year was slim, which made it difficult for coach Brooke Wyckoff to field a competitive team, and the record reflected that.

“Our standard here with Florida State women's basketball is to be an NCAA Tournament program,” Wyckoff said. “Since the end of last season, we have been working really hard as a staff to move towards that again in this coming season.”

With the troubling season behind them, FSU’s staff hit the transfer portal and also brought in a slew of talented freshmen. The Seminoles were able to retain five players from last year's team, most notably senior guard Solè Williams — who averaged 15.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and flirted with the transfer portal but ultimately decided to return to Tallahassee for one more year. Guards Mari Gerton, Emma Risch and Tatum Greene also return along with senior forward Avery Treadwell, who is entering her fourth year with the program.

Florida State brought in six transfers, including forward Ice Brady from Connecticut. Brady will be medically redshirted this year to recover from an injury, but once she returns the following year she will be a legitimate post presence down low.

The Seminoles brought in three transfers from SEC schools: Savannah Henderson from Georgia, Joy Egbuna from Alabama and Polish forward Aga Makurat from Vanderbilt. Jasmine Nivar from Campbell and Timaya Lewis-Eutsey from Marshall round out the rest of the transfer class. Lewis-Eutsey averaged 20 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists at Marshall last season.

Makurat averaged 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in just 10 minutes per game at Vanderbilt but is in position to see an expanded role at FSU.

“Aga Makurat was a three-year player at Vanderbilt, so she comes to us with a wealth of experience,” Wyckoff said. “Obviously, Vanderbilt has done extremely well in the NCAA tournament and in the SEC these last three years and Aga has been part of that. She brings size, she’s a lot taller than me, which we love to see. She’s 6-3, but her skill set is that of a guard. She can shoot the three really well, she can handle the ball, but she can play defense. She’s a versatile defender , so obviously we’re going to need her size.”

FSU will bring in five freshmen this year and the class is quite impressive. The Seminoles finished with ESPN.com’s No. 12 freshman signing class, highlighted by two five-star prospects in forward Chamiah Francis (who’s 6-2) and two-sport star Missy Odom. Guards Asia Lee, Kennedy Loux and Morgan Stewart round out the rest of the freshman class.

Odom will not just be playing basketball when she arrives on campus this summer. The 6-2 forward will also play softball for coach Lonni Alameda. Micahi Danzy (football-track) and Jasen Lopez (football-basketball) are current FSU two-sport stars, and Odom will try to make an impact on both teams and her time is managed well by Wyckoff and Alameda.

“Physically and skill-wise, Missy is ready to play at the college level,” Wyckoff said. “She’s a strong, taller, longer player and has a skill set that can bring rebounding, defense and some 3-point shooting to our team. We’re not going to overwork her, that’s our No. 1 goal. Coach Lonni and I have been talking about how that’ll all look and kind of figuring it out as we go, but the No. 1 priority will be that she’s getting proper rest and able to adjust to her freshmen year as best as she can.”

Florida State now must wait for its schedule to come out late in the summer to get a glimpse of what their non-conference competition will be. Until then, this team will be working hard to improve and to get the taste of a losing season out of their mouths. This year's team will be considerably taller as the Seminoles will have eight players who stand 6-2 or taller.

Now that the transfer portal is closed and all of the freshmen signees are sealed and ready to play, this roster is set for the fall season. If this team gels over the summer and plays to its potential, the possibility of returning to the NCAA Tournament is very much in play.

How this team will look and what the strengths and weaknesses will be are to be determined, but this appears to be a team capable of bouncing back with a blend of returning players, transfers and impact freshmen.

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