Of all the athletic programs at USF over the last quarter century more, women's basketball has been one of the most consistent. The Bulls have nine NCAA tournament appearances, 10 seasons with at least 20 wins since 2012, multiple conference championships, and so on.
And as she stood before a packed house at the Alumni Center for her introductory appearance on Monday, new head coach Kristy Curry promised to build on that success and take the Bulls to even greater heights.
"Our culture is built on three core principles, grit, love, and gratitude. We talk about grit, we will be the hardest workers, and that starts with me -- in the classroom, the court, and the community. Love, we will love one another -- this community in this university -- like nothing you've ever seen. Love is what brings grit and gratitude together," she said.
"Gratitude. We will have a proactive mindset of being thankful for the moment, each other, in the program and university and community we represent. We are so very excited. We feel blessed to write this next chapter with every single person in this room. And I can promise you, we will share some very, very special moments together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for entrusting me with one of the most storied women's basketball programs in the country. And I can promise you this, it's gonna be all gas and no brakes."
USF hired Curry last week after she spent 13 seasons at Alabama. I'll be honest -- when I first saw that news alert, I wondered if she had been fired from there or if there was an underlying reason why she would leave an SEC program to join the Bulls.
But no. She wanted to come to Tampa. That was the underlying reason. Curry was motivated to come to Tampa because of USF is now and will be going forward. And if the energy she exuded from the podium is any indication, USF fans are in for a treat.
She said she spoke a few days ago with former Bulls coach Jose Fernandez, who led the Bulls for 25 seasons and had a 485-317 record.
"I just want to thank him and his staff for all that they've done for this program. It's absolutely amazing. What coach has built is incredible. We're going to embrace the past," she said.
"And I look forward to reaching out to all the amazing young women that have been a part of this program as we join together, everybody in this room, to continue the proud tradition of USF women's basketball."
In 28 seasons as a head coach, Curry has a 554-322 record that includes 16 20-win seasons. She is the only coach in women’s basketball history to record 100 or more wins at three different Power 4 schools -- Alabama, Texas Tech, and Purdue.
"These numbers will get even better rights here at USF, because with you, we're going to win more, and this number will increase," USF president Dr. Moez Limayem said.
Welcome to the Bay, @CoachCurry!
— USF Women's Basketball (@USFWBB) March 24, 2026
📝: https://t.co/Ts0jibebvW pic.twitter.com/7HeU3G6WNx
And, in her 27 previous years as a head coach, she has a 100 percent graduation rate. The news of her hiring last week caught many in the basketball community by surprise.
"Do you want to hear the behind the scenes of how we stealthily pulled this off? Okay, cool. It's actually way more simple than one would assume. We are USF. That's how," CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins said.
"Am I right? We're USF. You see, those that really know today's USF, and those that know, Kristy Curry and the Curry family, know that USF deserves Kristy Curry, and Kristy Curry deserves USF."