Brooke Wyckoff knew it would be hard losing her hair, but she didn't know when it would happen.

After undergoing successful breast cancer tumor removal surgery in late October, Florida State women's basketball's head coach started chemotherapy treatment.

"You start out in denial, saying 'Oh, no, that won't happen.' I'll be the miracle patient. I'll get chemotherapy and my hair won't fall out," Wyckoff said. "Then as it starts happening.

"Then reality hits."

During timeouts of FSU's game against Clemson Jan. 7, occasional pieces of her long blonde hair that would fall out began to turn into multiple strands, almost clumps.

By the time the Seminoles' next game four days later against North Carolina, Wyckoff's hair had become unmanageable,

And she was prepared to shave it off.

Hours later, she was courtside at the Donald Tucker Civic Center wearing her brand-new wig and picking up where the Seminoles left off, winning a second straight game.

Her continuous battle with breast cancer has not been easy. However, Wyckoff has not let it slow down her day-to-day life, or the people around her.

"There's been side effects, but I've been able to continue to work. I've had really overall good energy," Wyckoff said. "I feel very blessed to say that and be able to keep pushing forward."

'You wonder if you're going to die'

Wyckoff felt like there was something wrong before her diagnosis. She felt a lump in her chest.

In mid-September, Wyckoff was diagnosed with breast cancer. But that is all she knew. It would be weeks before she'd find out the severity of the cancer.

During that time, she wanted to stay distracted. Focused on the upcoming basketball season and taking care of her 10-year-old daughter. Whatever could take her mind off of the unknown.

"You wonder if you're going to die," Wyckoff said. "That the unknown is very, very scary, and I was fearful, but at the same time I was trying to understand that I don't have the full story yet. There's got to be hope and we'll just wait and see."

She eventually found out that it was the most common type of breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma. Wyckoff would need to undergo tumor removal surgery, followed by chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

One of the biggest steps was telling those around her that she was not only diagnosed with breast cancer but that she would be undergoing surgery. Wyckoff didn't want to distract those around her with this news, specifically, her players who were gearing up for the regular season.

"We were going into the season I didn't want this to be a distraction," Wyckoff said. "I didn't want anyone to think she's not gonna be here. She can't do the job. That was a hard thing just to figure out. There's no book on how you tell people [you have cancer]."

One of the people she's confided in the most is her coach, Sue Semrau. She's known Wyckoff since she was 17 years old, recruiting her from Cincinnati, Ohio to make the 730-mile trip to play for Semrau in Tallahassee 27 years ago.

When Wyckoff had told Semrau that she had breast cancer, in a coach's mindset, she wanted to know how Wyckoff was feeling.

"I think a lot of times as a head coach, you got to take care of everybody else," Semrau said. "Who was going to take care of her? Her family's in Ohio and obviously she has an amazing husband, but in your early 40s, it's a very scary diagnosis. We were surprised about the diagnosis, but neither one of us wasn't ready for it.

"It is really more of how is she and how can I help her to get through this?"

Semrau has been accompanying Wyckoff to her chemotherapy appointments, supporting her and helping her in whatever way she can.

"She's just been really, really supportive in terms of wanting to be there helping me," Wyckoff said. "She's asking me questions that no one probably is brave enough to ask and just giving me an opportunity to talk things through."

FSU players found out that Wyckoff had breast cancer a few days before the rest of the world did on Oct. 31, 2023.

It was the day before the Seminoles were set to play their second preseason game against Clayton State, and Wyckoff needed to let them know that she was not going to be there as she would be recovering from surgery.

The announcement was met with loads of support from players, fans, members of the FSU community and people all across the college sports world. The Seminoles won their preseason game, 97-62, and were instantly greeted by Wyckoff via FaceTime in the locker room to celebrate the win.

"They are just open to me being vulnerable," Wyckoff said. "That's one of the biggest things is that they make me comfortable in my vulnerability throughout this. They show me that they care in that way and then they ask me how I'm doing and I just love it."

"It's a lot of times when you have that coach-player relationship, it is the coach's job to always want to know how's that player doing? That relationship isn't always reciprocal. It doesn't need to be. I want the players focused on what they're doing and worry about their teammates and things like that. But they want to know how I am. I am always surprised by them."

A new look

After successful tumor removal surgery, the next step was treatment.

Wyckoff had the choice between radiation treatment, where beams of intense energy are used to kill cancer cells or chemotherapy, a drug treatment that uses powerful chemicals to kill fast-growing cells. She chose chemotherapy and was preparing to lose her hair.

That is when she met Mimi Boyette, a 72-year-old breast cancer survivor.

Boyette was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2022, had "a very aggressive" chemotherapy treatment and knew a lot about dealing with hair loss from treatment and picking out wigs.

Boyette was recommended by Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Cancer Center chemotherapy educator Alli Kelly, whom Boyette grew close to during her treatment, to help Wyckoff during this part of her treatment. It was something Wyckoff hadn't experienced before and Boyette knew a lot about.

"I love my wigs and she [Kelly] knew that," Boyette said. "She [Kelly] knew that Brooke [Wyckoff] was going to have a more difficult time losing her hair. She's younger, she's in the spotlight and she's in the public eye, more so than your normal breast cancer treatment patients."

"I kind of guided her on where I have bought my wigs, which have been all online... I did a lot of research and I have 28 wigs... I told her where to start and she took it and ran."

After giving advice to Wyckoff on where to get a good wig, and texting back and forth, Boyette visited Wyckoff hours before the Seminoles were set to play North Carolina.

Wyckoff was trying to figure out what to do with her hair as nearly all of it had fallen out. The "surreal" reality set in of what was happening, and Boyette shaved Wyckoff's head. Wyckoff said that it is an emotionally challenging experience, but Boyette has always had a positive perspective on the situation.

"I think chemo patients just look beautiful with no hair," Boyette said. "I think God just makes you beautiful during chemo. I really do. You just kind of have to look at it that way. You're going through hell and something has got to look good, and she has had a great attitude."

This is the first time Boyette has ever worked with someone like she has with Wyckoff. Wyckoff expressed the importance of their new-found friendship throughout the process and how grateful she is that she met Boyette.

"We're totally in different places but it's amazing how things like this just connect you with people that you never would have connected with before," Wyckoff said.

Pack it Pink

Sunday is an important game for FSU.

Rolling off a handful of victories in the final stretch of the regular season, it has a chance to make a statement against the No. 12 team in the country, Notre Dame.

However, that is not why this date has been on Wyckoff's mind for months.

It's the annual Paint It Pink game, dedicated to honoring those who have battled breast cancer and raising money toward fighting the disease.

Weeks before Wyckoff had found out she had breast cancer she was with softball coach Lonni Alameda and volleyball coach Chris Poole, to present a $12,672 donation to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare's Walker Breast Program as part of FSU's fundraising efforts.

She didn't know at the moment that the money raised would go toward helping her treatment, but she knew that it was going toward an important cause.

"They [TMH staff] were able to say this money is going towards this specific machine," Wyckoff said. "That's going to be able to give results to patients quicker and it just hits you in such a different way. This money that's been raised will directly impact people like me. It takes on a whole different meaning."

The Paint It Pink game has been going on for years at FSU, and the drive to spread breast cancer awareness on the court started in the ACC. Former NC State head coach Kay Yow battled breast cancer for 22 years before passing away from the disease in 2009, but she did not let it dictate her life and eventual legacy.

This game has held in importance at FSU for years and is one that Semrau has always valued. She had a close friendship with Yow and she taught her lessons about coaching.

Semrau also stepped away from coaching during the 2020-21 season, with Wyckoff taking over as interim head coach, as Semrau went to be with her mother, who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

When it comes to this game, she doesn't want to Paint It Pink. She wants to Pack it Pink.

"I don't want to go to this game and have it be 'Oh, that was nice.' I don't want to go to the game and it'd be like 'Well, there's some people that really care about this'. I want to see this as a game changer in so many ways," Semrau said.

"I hope that somehow the word gets out and all of Tallahassee comes out and supports not only this cause, not only women's basketball but a coach who has given so much to this university."

"We're going to be ok"

There aren't many good things that come out of a cancer diagnosis, but Wyckoff said that the people she's met along this journey have made it special. Even strangers, who saw she had successful breast cancer removal surgery, have had a positive impact in her life.

When FSU was playing in the Ball Dawgs Classic in Las Vegas in November, after the game, a man from the stands began waiving Wyckoff down and shouting her name.

Not knowing what he wanted or who he was, she was surprised to hear that he was a cancer survivor who wanted to tell her how proud of her he was.

He wasn't an FSU fan or a fan of the Seminoles opponent that day, but a man in Las Vegas who saw her story and wanted to meet her in person.

"For him to take the time to come over to say that to me and encourage me, but also tell me his story means so much," Wyckoff said. "We now keep in touch on Instagram. He reached out to me and said 'Hey, this is the random guy that came up to you and I just hope you're doing well' and he checks in with me. That means so much."

For Wyckoff, personally, it's been hard at times, but one of the things that keeps her going is her daughter, Avery. Wyckoff said that Avery may not be old enough to understand what's going on, but she knows everything is not exactly as it should be.

But Wyckoff wants to let her daughter know that everything is going to be alright.

"The way that I give her hope and the way that I keep going is so important for her to feel like 'yeah, we're going to be okay,' " Wyckoff said. "And then one day I know, she'll look back and see, understand and also hopefully, have hope that 'wow, we've come so far since my mom had this and went through it.'

How to watch FSU women's basketball vs. Notre Dame

Who: Florida State (17-7, 8-4 ACC) vs. No. 12 Notre Dame (17-4, 7-4)

When/Where: Noon, Sunday, Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, Fla.

TV/Radio: ACCN/101.5 FM

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU women's basketball head coach Brooke Wyckoff shares battle with breast cancer