A SEMINOLE FROM THE START

Before she became a college softball coaching legend, Dr. JoAnne Graf played for the Seminoles. Dr. Graf had lived in Tallahassee since the fifth grade and attended Leon High School before enrolling at FSU. She played shortstop from 1973 to 1975, a time when FSU softball was not yet an official intercollegiate program. The team practiced on the intramural fields and was often kicked out by fraternity teams. Players were responsible for their own uniforms, transportation and meals. Dr. Graf graduated from FSU with a degree in marine biology in 1975. She pivoted her career and pursued a master’s degree in physical education at North Carolina-Greensboro, serving as coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams and an assistant for the softball team. Then, in 1979, Dr. Graf returned to Florida State to coach the very softball team she championed in its earliest years.