2026 Star Kaylee Goodpaster Managing ACL Recovery

Kaylee Goodpaster Kaylee Goodpaster OF North Bay Haven | 2026 #32 Nation FL is seeking advice from the Florida State medical staff a bit earlier than she expected. The 2026 FSU signee tore her ACL while playing basketball for North Bay Haven Charter Academy in Panama City, Florida this season. Goodpaster went up for a layup and got slightly pushed while in the air before landing awkwardly.

Goodpaster had surgery in February to repair the injury.

“The doctor told me everything looks good for recovery. Now, I just have to get to work and grind,” said Goodpaster, who ranks No. 32 in Prep Softball's 2026 Top 100. “I've got a lot of people at FSU helping me as well, so I am basically going to do whatever they tell me to do.”

Goodpaster was recruited to FSU as an outfielder, but has a lot of infield experience. She led the state of Florida in RBIs for North Bay Haven and was a two-time Bay County Player of the Year. She holds just about every offensive record possible for the Buccaneers.

In basketball, Goodpaster was also an all-state player who scored her 1,500th career point in December. Despite the injury, Goodpaster doesn't regret her time on the hardwood.

“It was definitely nice to be able to take a break from softball for a little bit. It was definitely beneficial to my body to use different muscles,” she said. “Basketball is just a completely different experience than softball too. It's really just fun for me to play, honestly, and I just played that more for fun than competition.”

Goodpaster, who was born in Kentucky and moved to Florida around age 9, always knew she wanted to play for the Seminoles.

“It was honestly a really easy choice for me. I've always grown up going to their camps and being around the coaches,” she said. “We already had pretty decent relationships going into my recruiting time period. They called me on September 1, and I set up a visit. I committed the next day while I was still on campus. It all took about nine days.”

The ACL injury isn't the first time Goodpaster has dealt with a medical setback. She injured her back during her freshman and sophomore years of high school.

“It was really hard because I wasn't allowed to do anything because anything active would risk the healing process. That one was definitely a mental challenge,” Goodpaster said. “I honestly don't even know how I got through it. But I had a lot of people surrounding me and I'm a big believer of Jesus, so he really helped me get through that one, too.”

Goodpaster is trying to focus on her recovery from the latest knee injury and her academics so she can be ready once she arrives at FSU. She is considering majoring in criminology.

“I am thinking about taking courses geared at police or that kind of route,” she said. “I don't really want to do anything boring, and I just landed on that potential career because I always like to help people.”