Tampa, Fla. Oct. 11, 2023 – Tara Johns has been elevated to Assistant Coach/Director of Basketball Operations for the South Florida women’s basketball program, announced by head coach Jose Fernandez on Wednesday.
“I thought that Tara (Johns) got a great deal of experience last year as a coordinator of basketball operations,” said Coach Fernandez. “In her new role, she has the opportunity to get on the floor and coach and be involved in workouts and player development in an additional capacity. Tara has brought so much experience to our program as a player and coach.”
“The women’s basketball program here at the University of South Florida is one of the highest-rated programs in the nation,” said Johns. “I feel privileged to be a part of such a fine athletic program while working under the leadership of Coach Jose Fernandez, who has had great success here (year after year). Coach Jose has assembled a very talented staff of which I have the pleasure of working alongside. I look forward to another great year and I’m excited to work with our very talented student-athletes.”
COACHING RESUME
Johns joined the Bulls’ women’s basketball staff in December of 2022 as the coordinator of basketball operations. She started at USF in November of 2021 as an executive administrative specialist working with Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly.
Before coming to USF, Johns was an assistant coach for Northwest Florida State College where her team won the 2020-21 NJCAA National Championship, the first title in program history.
In her two seasons with the Raiders, Johns helped lead the team to a 51-6 record and consecutive Panhandle Conference titles. Northwest Florida State earned the No. 3 seed in the 2020 NJCAA Women’s Basketball Championship before the event was canceled due to COVID-19. During that same season, Johns earned the WBCA Thirty Under Thirty award for being one of the top coaches in the nation under 30 years of age.
The team’s 2021 championship run was impressive as the team boasted the nation’s most stingy defense. The Raiders allowed 49.4 points per game and held opponents to a 32.9 field goal percentage. Offensively, NWF shot 46.5 percent as a team, top in the nation, and ended the season as the 14th most efficient team in the country. Johns worked closely with forward Chanaya Pinto, who was a two-time NJCAA All-American and 2021 World Exposure Report Sophomore of the Year.
Prior to NWF, Johns was an assistant at Wabash Valley College from 2018-2019. The Warriors won 32 consecutive games before falling in the NJCAA Elite Eight. The team led the nation in points per game (97.2), field goals made per game (38.4), rebound margin per game (23.2), and assists per game (22.9). It was also the first time the program had ever been ranked No. 1 in the nation.
In her two seasons at Morehead State (2016-18), Johns helped guide the Eagles to a 42-21 (23-11 Ohio Valley Conference) record while serving as the Director of Basketball Operations. The Eagles reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh and eighth time in school history, resulting in the program’s first ever appearance in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament in 2017. 2016-17 also featured a nine-game winning streak – the second-longest in school history – and the team’s first invitation to a national postseason tournament since 2009-10.
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Johns coached several players at Northwest Florida State College who have gone on to make an impact for Division I programs, including Pinto (Oregon/Penn State), Rayven Peeples (St. John’s), Last-Tear Poa (LSU) Noelani Cornfield (Southern Miss), Shelbee Brown (Memphis), Masengo Mutando (Jacksonville State), Kynadi Kuykendoll (Florida Atlantic), Laura Taylor (Weber State), Ines Piper (Temple).
PLAYING CAREER/EDUCATION
Johns (Arnold) played collegiately at Western Kentucky University before transferring to Morehead State, where she played two seasons before finishing her career at Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.). She finished her playing career averaging 10 points and 5.2 rebounds, while shooting 71 percent from the line, 44 percent from the floor, and 40 percent from three-point range.
A native of Frankfort, Ky., Johns graduated from LW in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and made Academic All-Mid-South Conference honors. She received her master’s at WKU in sports management with a concentration in media and branding, while working for the IMG Sports Network radio/television as the WKU women’s basketball play-by-play commentator.
The former Tara Arnold married Chris Johns in the fall of 2022. Chris is a member of the USF baseball coaching staff.
TICKETS
Fans can purchase women’s basketball tickets by calling 1-800-GoBulls or at USFBullsTix.com.
WATCH THE BULLS
All of South Florida’s home regular season games will once again be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app is $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
ABOUT USF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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South Florida women’s basketball recorded its 11th 20-win season during the 2022-23 campaign. USF has made 18 postseason tournament appearances and had nine NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 23 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to 11 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship, has won over 400 career games, and is the all-time wins leader in the American Athletic Conference.
In 2022-23, the Bulls had four players recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elena Tsineke (AAC Co-Player of the Year, All-Conference First Team), Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (AAC Co-Player of the Year, All-Conference First Team), Sammie Puisis (AAC Newcomer of the Year, All-Conference Second Team) and Carla Brito (AAC All-Freshman Team).
– #GoBulls –
