Jose Fernandez

Jose Luis Fernandez (born November 18, 1971) is the head coach of the University of South Florida women's basketball team, starting in 2000.

The Bulls won five straight games to close out the AAC regular season, including a smashing 71-38 romp against Houston on a night in which the 50th anniversary of USF women’s basketball was celebrated.

The Bulls reached the AAC Tournament championship game but fell to top-seeded UCF 53-45.

In the NCAA Tournament’s opening round, the Bulls were beaten by Miami 78-66.

Fernandez was officially named head coach on Nov. 14, 2000, just seven months after arriving at USF as an assistant coach.

He has led the Bulls to eight trips to the NCAA Tournament and nine WNIT appearances, which includes the 2009 WNIT title and a semifinal appearance in 2014.

The Bulls have also advanced to the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament championship game in six of the past nine seasons and have made at least the semifinal round during every season in the AAC.

It marks the first time that the Bulls have had a player(s) named Player of the Year in The American and it's just the second time in conference history – the first since 2017 – that two individuals have shared the honor.

Sammie Puisis was named the conference Newcomer of the Year – another first for South Florida – and was a Second Team selection while Carla Brito was named to the All-Freshman Team.

2021-22 (NCAA Tournament)

With nearly every significant player returning from the AAC regular-season and tournament championship teams, expectations were soaring for the Bulls.

USF boosted its stock by defeating No. 9 Oregon 71-62 in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.

Then in a standalone game, also in the Bahamas, the Bulls upended No. 7 Stanford, the defending national champion, 57-54 on Sydni Harvey’s 3-pointer from the wing with 2.8 seconds remaining.

Named the 2018 and 2021 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, head coach Jose Fernandez has, during his 20-plus seasons, built the Bulls into a perennial Top 25 program.

Under his guidance, USF has transformed from a program with only five winning seasons to a regular participant in the NCAA Tournament.

2019-20 * (Postseason cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic)

In a basketball season unlike one that anyone has ever seen in collegiate athletics – one that will have an asterisk next to it moving forward – USF was still on the cusp of recording its seventh 20-win season in the last eight years, and advancing to its seventh-straight postseason tournament, before the COVID-19 Pandemic led to the cancellation of the remainder of the NCAA basketball season.

In addition, the Bulls had to endure a second-consecutive year of season-ending and significant injuries, however, still recorded a 19–13 record and advanced to the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament for the seventh-consecutive year.

After starting the season getting votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll, ultimately getting as high as No. 21 in the AP and No. 20 in the Coaches poll, USF posted signature non-conference wins over No. 15 Texas, 64–57, and VCU, 77–55, and trailed No. 2 Baylor by three with three minutes left before falling in the end.

During the 2020-21 campaign, the Green and Gold made program history winning its first American Athletic Conference regular-season championship and followed that up with The American Tournament title in Fort Worth, Texas.

During their tournament run, the Bulls defeated Wichita State, 48–44, Tulane, 51–47, and rival UCF, 64–54, the same Knights team that USF beat, 65–52, to win the regular-season crown on March 2 in the Yuengling Center.

2022-23 (NCAA Tournament)

This past season, South Florida posted a 27-7 overall record and held a 15-1 mark in conference action.

The 2022-23 campaign was concluded on a high note, as the program made its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, marking its eighth trip to the Big Dance in the last 11 years.

Included in their 27 wins were ranked victories against No. 22/18 Texas, 70-65, a gritty 66-65 overtime win versus No. 17/19 Arkansas in the San Diego Invitational, and a 67-65, comeback overtime triumph against ninth-seeded Marquette in the first round of March Madness.

The season came to an end in the following round, as No. 1/1 South Carolina bested the Bulls, 76-45.

Elena Tsineke and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, the best players in The American all season, were recognized for just that as both were named Co-Players of the Year and were unanimous picks for First Team All-Conference.

2020-21 (NCAA Tournament)

Despite South Florida attempting to return to a sense of normalcy, the Bulls still had to deal with their share of COVID-19 obstacles and setbacks during the season, but through it all, USF advanced to its seventh NCAA Tournament and its fourth appearance in the Round of 32.

The Green and Gold played a modified regular-season schedule of 24 games – four nonconference and 20 in The American – with next to no fans at home due to restrictions, and either the postponement or cancelation of eight games, including seven-straight and still posted a 19–4 record and a 12–2 mark in The American.

Of the four nonconference games, two came against two of the nation's elite at home, defending national champion Baylor and Mississippi State.

The Bulls came close to shocking the women's basketball world against the fourth-ranked Lady Bears, falling 67–62, but returned the next game and defeated the No. 6-ranked Bulldogs in overtime, the highest-ranked team they have ever beaten.

That win was the first of 13-straight victories for South Florida, a program record and the seventh longest in the nation at that point.

USF started the season receiving votes and rose to its highest ranking in program history, No. 12 in the Feb. 15 Associated Press Top 25 poll.

After winning The American regular-season title, South Florida made another statement when the league announced its postseason award winners, and six Bulls – including head coach Jose Fernandez – were honored.

Fernandez was named the AAC Coach of the Year, while Elisa Pinzan was tabbed the league's Most Improved Player, and Maria Alvarez was chosen as the Co-Sixth Player of the Year.

Also, Bethy Mununga and Elena Tsineke were named to The American All-Conference First Team, Pinzan was a Second Team selection and Sydni Harvey earned Third Team honors.

Following South Florida's historic showing in the conference tournament, en route to the tournament title, Harvey was named tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game during the championship.

Tsineke, the championship game leading scorer (23 points), and Mununga joined Harvey on the All-Tournament Team.

In addition, Fernandez was a finalist for the 2021 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year and was a semifinalist for the 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's Coach of the Year.