South Florida is out of a coach, the school announced this week on social media, and has voluntarily removed themselves from NCAA or non-NCAA tournament contention as well. The team thanked interim coach Michele Woods-Baxter for her work this season, and also announced that she will be on the list of those who will be considered for the full-time job of head coach ahead of next season.
Rob Higgins, the CEO of USF Athletics, announced the news on X. He noted that the basketball program was informed of the upcoming changes ahead of time on Friday, and explained, "In our meeting, we thanked them for their hard work and effort in a season that began in an unexpected and non-traditional fashion. While every member of the program deserves a lot of credit for pulling together to help win 20 games this season, we want to specifically say how grateful we are to our seniors for their amazing careers and for all of their incredible contributions to USF."
Those 20 wins are at the hands of Woods-Baxter, and plenty of fans expressed their hope that USF and Higgins will officially bring her onboard as head coach. Higgins noted that the search is "comprehensive" and will be conducted across the United States.
USF saw the surprise departure of Jose Fernandez last year
If the team sounds familiar, it may be in part because they were guided by Jose Fernandez — now the head coach of the Dallas Wings, for 25 years. Fernandez announced his decision to take over the Wings just before the 2025-26 NCAA season began, the USF has been focused on making this season as good as possible ever since.
The team's non-conference schedule included games against three ranked opponents and there was a lot of pressure on the squad to make the most of this season. They managed to do exactly that, a feat many have credited to both a strong roster and Woods-Baxter's leadership. Woods-Baxter worked as the program's assistant coach for 17 seasons before moving into the top role this season.
That the team perservered is a credit to the roster they've put together, though the larger issue surrounding a potential coach change is one that's not uncommon in collegiate basketball. The end of the NCAA season has already seen the departure of several coaches, and it's likely more will follow. Hopefully, coaches like Woods-Baxter will be rewarded for their dedication to their teams (if that's something they want in the first place).
Pairing a coach with the right program is a delicate balancing act that requires a lot of things all at once: the ability to look at a program's past to determine its trajectory, a belief in a coach that can sometimes feel as though it's built on hope more than anything, and a roster of athletes who believe in the person leading them. It appears clear that USF had all of those things.