Locked On Women’s Basketball: Florida State’s Brooke Wyckoff tells us why her team is even faster now

First, they discussed how one of the fastest teams in the NCAA somehow managed to find a new gear:

“Who knew it was possible?” Wyckoff said. “But I think at the end of last season, I felt like we could play faster, we could create more possessions, and that would come through changing our defense. And I really felt, as did my staff, that we needed to take a step defensively if we wanted to reach the levels of success, [and be] where we want to be, deep into March. And so what that meant was to match our pace as best as possible on the defensive end; turn up the pressure, try to get more steals and create more possessions for us offensively, because that is our strength. So we’ve been doing that, we’ve been learning how to do that and I’m really pleased with our progress.”

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“It’s been a really fun journey. Morgan Toles, who’s on my staff, she is our defensive coordinator, and so she and I, pretty much right after the [2023-24] season, started talking about what we wanted to do and what kind of defense we want to play, what we wanted to create,” Wyckoff continued. “And what we found was a really, really cool system that’s been around for a long time, and it’s called SOS defense … it was invented by Bob Kloppenburg, but his son, Gary Kloppenburg, who we all know well in the women’s basketball world, very successful coach, he essentially taught it to us. We got in touch with him and just loved what it brought. And I thought that it matched what we were looking for, just to disrupt, to create steals, to create turnovers, to create bad shots by the other team. And so we started on the journey of learning that over the summer, and then we started with our team in September, teaching it. So we haven’t been doing it very long with the team, so that’s why it’s been a process, and I’m liking where we’re at with it in the last couple of weeks and months.”

Then, they focused specifically on standout guard Ta’Niya Latson, who is currently first in points per game among all Div I players who have played at least 10 games, per Her Hoop Stats.

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“She’s playing exactly the way that … the game is going,” Wyckoff said of Latson. “She’s just such an exciting player to watch. I know I may be biased, I get a front row seat every day, but the things that she is able to do just naturally are insane. I mean, it’s her natural instincts, her natural ability to just react to physical contact, space with the ball in her hands, and then her finishing ability at the rim is tailor-made for a physical, talented WNBA field. And so [to] add to that, as you said, her shooting this year, her three point percentage has been so impressive to me. … her understanding of when to take the three, what the defense is giving her, has gone up another level. She sees every coverage known to man, and multiple coverages throughout the game, and is able to adjust on the fly. She’s also increased her contributions [in] other statistical categories. I think that’s where I’m most proud of her.”

Tune in to hear more from Wyckoff about Latson and her fellow Seminoles, and their approach to this ACC season so far. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!