Fernandez is one of 10 coaches nationwide to make the semifinalist list.
ATLANTA (March 3, 2021) – University of South Florida head women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez has been named to the 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year Semifinalist List, announced Wednesday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Fernandez is one of 10 head coaches recognized for the award that is presented annually to the most outstanding men’s and women’s college basketball coach who achieves tremendous on-court success. Finalists for the award will be announced the week of March 15 with the winner being announced the week of March 29. Fernandez is also the lone non-Power 5 head coach to make the list.
Fernandez, in his 21st season as head coach at USF, has guided the Bulls to a 15-2 overall record and a 13-1 mark in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) this season, while also leading the Green and Gold to the program’s first American Athletic Conference regular-season title. He accomplished all this while navigating the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic that included a 31-day pause in program activities for his team. Before the extended layoff, USF took then-No. 4-ranked Baylor to the brink of defeat before falling to the Lady Bears, 67-62; and just one game later defeated No. 6 Mississippi State, 67-63 in overtime.
During the 2020-21 campaign, South Florida went on a program-record 13-game winning streak – the seventh-longest in the nation at the time – and also won a program-best 12 consecutive AAC games. USF also achieved the highest ranking in program history, checking in at No. 12 in the Feb. 15 Associated Press Top 25 poll.
For his career, Fernandez boasts a 388-274 record in 21 seasons at the helm of the USF program, which includes nine 20-win seasons. The Bulls have made 15 trips to the postseason, including six NCAA Tournament appearances and winning the 2009 WNIT championship.
2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalists
Geno Auriemma, UConn
Adia Barnes, Arizona
Gary Blair, Texas A&M
Mike Carey, West Virginia
Jose Fernandez, USF
Brenda Frese, Maryland
Wes Moore, NC State
Joni Taylor, Georgia
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford
Jeff Walz, Louisville
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USF notched its ninth consecutive 19-win season and was poised for its ninth straight postseason appearance in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the end of the college basketball season. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Elena Tsineke and Elisa Pinzan. Tsineke was named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, in addition to The American All-Freshman Team and Third Team All-Conference; while Pinzan was named a Third Team All-Conference selection.
USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 20 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to nine 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 350 games.
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