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Coach Jose Fernandez spans the globe to stock his USF women's basketball roster

By Joe Henderson

Mar 10, 2019; Uncasville, CT, USA; South Florida Bulls head coach Jose Fernandez watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies during the first half in the women's American Conference Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena. Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2019; Uncasville, CT, USA; South Florida Bulls head coach Jose Fernandez watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies during the first half in the women's American Conference Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena. Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
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It would help to have a globe or a world map to understand how far USF women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez searched for reinforcements after last year’s 19-win season.

Counting holdovers from last season, 11 of the 13 rostered players are from outside the United States as the Bulls seek to return to the NCAA Tournament after missing it for the first time since 2020. Four continents are represented on the USF roster.

For many women’s basketball programs, a 19-win season would be cause for celebration, but that’s not the case at USF. Fernandez used recruiting and the transfer portal to retool his roster after the Bulls were wrecked by multiple injuries last year.

The incoming class is headlined by guard Mama Dembele from Manlleu, Spain. She is a transfer from Missouri, and ESPN ranked her the ninth-best transfer player in the nation. She was the 2023-24 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, selected to the All-SEC Defensive Team, and earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-District squad.

Fernandez brought in 6-foot forward Ines Piper from Temple. A native of Paris, she was a member of the French U16 National Team during the 2018 European Championships.

Fatou Diakite, a 6-3 forward from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, played at Charlotte last year before transferring this spring to USF.

Jeniffer Silva, a 6-4 center from Recife, Brazil, transferred to USF after playing the last two seasons at South Plains College.

Freshman Yana Karamfilova, a 6-2 forward, hails from Sofia, Bulgaria. She represented her home country in the 2024 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket Division B. She averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in the five games she played in that tournament.

Another freshman, 5-11 forward Raina Tomasicka, comes to USF from Jekabpils, Latvia. She played in the 2024 FIBA Women’s EuroBasket and averaged 16.3 PPG in four games.

Fernandez also stayed busy during the off-season, coaching the USA Basketball's Women's U18 National Team to the 2024 FIBA U18 Women's Americup championship in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

“Being able to work with this elite group of players and coaches, and they have been a tremendous group to coach,” he said. “This is something that I'm going to remember forever."

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