TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida has hired away a head coach from the University of Alabama. Usually it’s the other way around, but new USF women’s head basketball coach Kristy Curry believes that the Bulls’ program is set up for success.
WATCH: Kristy Curry introduced as South Florida women's basketball coach
“We’re ready to get to work. I’m just a hardworking country girl,” Curry said at the press conference with Tampa Bay 28 sports anchor Kyle Burger in attendance. “We are so excited to be in Tampa Bay and to go to work.”
Curry spent the last 13 seasons at Alabama, leading the Crimson Tide to the NCAA Tournament in five of the past six seasons, and is one of only ten coaches to have won 100 or more games at three different schools (Alabama, Texas Tech and Purdue).
“I think it's undoubtedly a huge statement for not only how far we’ve come, but where we’re going,” CEO of USF Athletics Rob Higgins said. “You look at an icon and trailblazer of Kristy Curry’s stature, to want to join forces with us, its phenomenal.”
Curry is taking over for Michele Woods-Baxter, who stepped in as USF’s interim coach last season when Jose Fernandez moved on to the WNBA. Fernandez led the Bulls for 25 seasons.
“I just want to thank him and his staff for all that they've done for this program,” she said. “It's absolutely amazing. What coach has built is incredible. We're going to embrace the past.”
Curry has been a head coach for 27 years, and every step of the way, her husband Kelly has been her assistant coach.
“We didn’t plan this. We have two young ladies and home and 15 at the office,” she said. “We treat it like a family. There are a lot of couples in coaching; there are a lot of couples in the business world. The loyalty, the support, you agree to disagree. The highs and lows and a few in between. We got each other's support. He has one of the best offensive minds in the country. We talk about the WNBA, and he deserves more credit for that than I do.”
In her 27 previous years as a head coach, Curry has had a 100 percent graduation rate.
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