Brito led the Spanish U17 3×3 National Team to the 2021 FIBA Europe Cup title earning MVP honors.
TAMPA (June 23, 2022) – University of South Florida head women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez announced on Thursday the signing of incoming freshman Carla Brito to a National Letter of Intent. She is expected to make an immediate impact during the 2022-23 season.
“For Carla’s age and what she has accomplished in three-on-three and European Championships, and playing basketball at the highest level – even in the EuroLeague – we are really excited and look forward to coaching her here at South Florida,” said Fernandez. “What I like about her is her versatility and being able to play so many different positions. I think she is going to make an immediate impact in our program.”
A 5-9 wing from Las Palmas, Spain, Brito, is spending the Summer of 2022 playing with the Spanish U18 National Team. She helped lead the Spanish U17 3×3 National Team to the FIBA Europe Cup Championship in Lisbon, Portugal in September of 2021, earning Most Valuable Player honors and was second in the tournament in scoring with 27 points scored in the five games, averaging 5.4 points per outing. She either led the team or shared team-high scoring honors in four of Spain’s five games and was one of just three players in the tournament to score in double figures in a single game, sharing the tournament-high with 10 points against Romania.
During the FIBA U18 Women’s European Challengers, Brito averaged 11.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in five outings for Spain, scoring her tournament-high of 16 points in back-to-back games against Slovakia and Poland, and then netted 10 points against Greece. She fell just shy of a double-double with a nine-point, nine-rebound effort against Israel in the opener.
Brito spent the 2021-22 club season with Spar Gran Canaria, scoring double figures in three outings. She averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in her two games with Spar Gran Canaria in the EuroCup, leading the club to its 14th Spanish Junior Women’s Championship, averaging 23.2 points, 11.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists.
This past season, South Florida posted a 24-9 overall record, and a 12-3 mark in the American Athletic Conference, and capped off the season with its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance, and its seventh trip to the Big Dance in the last 10 years.
Included in their 24 wins were victories over No. 9 Oregon, 71-62, in the third-place game of the inaugural Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis, and a thrilling 57-54 win over defending national champion and No. 7-ranked Stanford.
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South Florida recorded its 10th 20-win season during the 2021-22 campaign while playing in its sixth American Athletic Conference championship game in its nine years in the conference. The Bulls achieved their highest national ranking of the season when it checked in at No. 13 in the Nov. 30 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, and advanced to their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in the last nine years.
USF has made 17 postseason tournament appearances and had eight NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 22 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to 10 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship, and has won over 400 career games. Fernandez was named a finalist for the WBCA and semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Awards. He was also tabbed the 2021 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.
The Bulls had three players, during the 2021-22 campaign, recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elena Tsineke (All-Conference First Team), Bethy Mununga (All-Conference Second Team) and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (All-Conference Second Team).
In addition, Tsineke and Mununga were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team.
–#GoBulls –
