USF Athletics

USF Women's Hoops Signs Bella Weary to NLI

November 12, 2020

TAMPA (November 12, 2020) – University of South Florida head women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez announced on Thursday the signing of Bella Weary to a National Letter of Intent (NLI) during the fall signing period. Weary is expected to make an impact during the 2021-22 campaign.
 
"Bella is a fierce competitor and plays extremely hard on both ends of the floor," said Fernandez. "We like her versatility in the backcourt, with the ball in her hands and off the ball."
 
Weary, a 5-foot-6 guard from Jacksonville, Fla., played her first two seasons of scholastic ball at Bartram Trail High School, where she reached the 1,000-point plateau (1,038) by the end of her sophomore season, while averaging 17.0 points per game in 61 outings. As a freshman (2017-18), she guided the Bears to FHSAA Regionals, averaging 13.8 points per contest and scoring 20-plus points five times, 2.4 steals and 2.1 assists per game.
 
Weary followed that up as a sophomore (2018-19) averaging a 20.2 point-per-game clip – tops in the county – to go along with 5.1 steals and 2.9 assists per tilt. She netted 19 games of 20 or more points. During that sophomore campaign, the Bears were 24-7 overall, including a 7-1 slate in district play, and advanced to the FHSAA state semifinals before falling to Tampa Bay Tech. For her efforts, Weary was named to the Florida Times Union All-First Coast First Team.  
 
Prior to her junior year (2019-20), Weary transferred to DME Sports Academy in Daytona Beach, where she netted 20 points per game for the second straight season.
 
Weary is the daughter of former University of Florida football All-American, and NFL veteran, Fred Weary. 
 
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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.