- April 18, 2025
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O’Mariah Gordon has had her faith tested at every turn at Florida State University.
The former Braden River High girls basketball star had a high school basketball experience that most players can only experience in their dreams.
That’s what made the start to her collegiate career troubling to her.
Gordon didn’t win a state championship at Braden River, but checked off just about everything else a player could ever wish to accomplish.
She won district and regional championships. She averaged over 20 points per game for four straight seasons. She was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year winner.
Best of all, when the 5-foot-4 Gordon was finished at Braden River, she had her pick of some of the top women’s basketball programs in the nation.
Ranked as the No. 31 prospect in the country and the No. 1 prospect in the state by ESPN at the time, Gordon committed to Florida State in the fall of 2020.
Now a senior with the Seminoles, Gordon has had to overcome multiple surgeries to fix a lingering injury and a head coaching change, but has persevered.
Gordon will make one final run through March Madness with No.6 Florida State beginning with a Round of 64 game against No. 11 George Mason on March 22 at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN2. But that pressure should be nothing compared to what she already has overcome.
Gordon has had to deal with many challenges in her four years at Florida State.
After being the no-doubt scoring option in high school, Gordon had to work her way into the starting lineup during her freshman season while learning the offense under then-coach Sue Semrau.
In doing it, Gordon was playing through pain.
Gordon said she had surgery to address a heel injury coming into her freshman season, but the pain never went away.
“That injury was the hardest for me mentally because it hindered me from doing what I know how to do best,” Gordon said. “Also, even my outside life off the court, it hindered me. I knew in my head I couldn’t be my full self.”
Rather than rest, Gordon missed one game to start the season and then played through the pain.
Despite what she described as "day-to-day" pain that affected every aspect of her life, Gordon became the team’s starting point guard midway through the year and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team after averaging 7.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 20.3 minutes per game.
Following the conclusion of that season, Semrau retired and Florida State named assistant Brooke Wyckoff as her successor.
That meant Gordon had a new coaching philosophy to learn, all while recovering from another surgery that didn’t fix her heel pain, either.
Gordon’s sophomore year wasn’t any easier.
After starting 20 games as a freshman, she started just twice as a sophomore and subsequently played 17.6 minutes per game.
Going from the top recruit in the state to an injury-riddled player two years into college wasn’t easy for Gordon, but she had some help off the court.
Gordon stumbled upon a bible study group while scootering around campus at the start of her freshman year.
She said despite many members of the group being in their late 20s, she made friends who introduced her to festivals, new food and renewed her hope.
“I went to Bible study a lot and that helped me,” said Gordon, who said the Bible study group altered its schedule to avoid game days.
“It was a small Bible study that was on campus at the time," she said. "It helped me to stay positive. It’s easy to look at a situation and think negatively and doubt what you can become, but at the end of the day, if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. That kept my hopes high.”
Gordon didn’t question herself when her junior year arrived.
Coming off two seasons that started with surgeries, she received shots to ease her pain.
It worked.
Finally healthy and with a year under Wyckoff’s tutelage, Gordon started playing like her former self.
She started 34 games that season, averaging 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1 steal in 31 minutes per game.
“My junior year, I came back and I did a lot better, and I was proud of how I handled the situation,” Gordon said. “I didn’t make anything about me, and I feel like it’s easy to make things about you when things aren’t going your way or you feel like you should be playing, or you feel like things should be different. I made it about my teammates, and I was happy with how I responded.”
Life at Florida State has been good for Gordon.
She’s had name, image and likeness opportunities that include making appearances, designing and selling a shirt featuring herself, and a Celsius-sponsored March Madness campaign that became public on March 17.
Gordon has excelled in the classroom, too. Majoring in sports management, Gordon has been a member of the All-ACC Academic Team for each of her first three years.
In her free time, she said she likes to roller skate and sell used clothes and shoes.
On the court, she’s been playing the best basketball of her career for a Florida State team that is 23-8 and has averaged the second-most points per game in the nation (87.2 points per game).
Gordon, who has started 29 games and is averaging 16.2 points per game this season, had one of her biggest moments Feb. 16 — scoring 34 points on 14-of-22 shooting to help the Seminoles beat the University of Miami 83-82.
Playing alongside Ta’Niya Latson, who is averaging the most points per game in the nation (24.9), Gordon and the Seminoles have a chance to make a deep run in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Even if that doesn’t happen, though, Gordon said she wants to do whatever she can to keep playing basketball after her collegiate career is done, even if more challenges lie ahead.
“I want to continue to play, wherever my opportunity comes, in the WNBA or overseas or wherever my opportunity is,” Gordon said. “I’ll be having some conversations when the season ends. I’m really excited for my future and what’s ahead of me and the next chapter of my life.”
