Michele Woods-Baxter spent the past 17 seasons as a USF women's basketball assistant coach, so she's familiar with the program, the roster and every nook and cranny of the Yuengling Center.
So, what will change for her in USF's Monday night season-opener against Florida International University?
"Well, it's going to be a different feel for me because now I'm the one who gets to stand up,'' Woods-Baxter said with a smile. "I like to roam (around the bench area) a little bit. I'm probably a little more animated … because I just love to coach. I enjoy the game and love to see our kids have fun, be happy and be excited. I sort of feed off that.''
For USF women's basketball, it's a different feel, indeed.
Woods-Baxter was named interim head coach following the recent departure of the legendary Jose Fernandez, who became head coach of the WNBA's Dallas Wings. Tough act to follow? Absolutely. In 25 USF seasons, Fernandez's teams won 485 games while earning 10 NCAA Tournament berths and one WNIT championship.
It all happened very quickly.
"I worked side-by-side with probably one of the best elite minds in college basketball,'' Woods-Baxter said. "Jose kept me in the loop (on WNBA possibilities), but it was (a fast transition). He has been wonderful and available for anything I might need. He told me, 'It's your show now, Michele,' and to just be myself, so that helped to calm me down.
"The players absolutely rallied around (me). Initially, there's a lot of shock and even a little bit of anger because that happens any time a head coach leaves. But after we sort of got through that, I had numerous players — from my transfers to my veterans — just come up to me and say, 'You know what, Coach? We got this. Don't worry. We have you.' And from that day forward, we've had great practices. They're ready to play. We're just trying to look forward and move on.''
Woods-Baxter said USF women's basketball will look similar to Fernandez's era, which concluded with last season's 23-11 team that won the American Conference Tournament championship. But there will be some differences.
She expects to place more emphasis on defensive play.
"We've already put down our offensive principles because he (Fernandez) was here long enough to do that, so I'm not going to change any of that,'' Woods-Baxter said. "I may be a little more defensive-minded. I would like to put on more pressure to try and create some easy turnover opportunities, so we're not always relying on a half-court offense to play fast.
"I think we really want to amp up our half-court defense in trying to turn people over that way. We didn't have a lot of depth last year (to do that) and that's what we have this year. So hopefully, we'll work toward (more full-court pressure defense) once we hit conference play. We'll work on it and see how it goes because it's a little new to us to jump into it right now.''
Woods-Baxter said she believes the USF roster goes about "11 players deep'' with about nine capable of earning starting roles. On occasion, she said the USF substitution pattern could results in "five new players in, five players out'' situations.
The experience and leadership rests with senior 5-foot-11 forward Carla Brito, an American Conference second-team all-star who averaged 9.2 points and 8.2 rebounds last season, and 6-2 senior forward L'or Mputu, the league's Most Improved Player who averaged 9.5 points and 8.1 rebounds.
USF attracted four transfers who should play key roles — 5-10 graduate student guard Katie Davidson (IU-Indianapolis, first-team All-Horizon League, 1,213 career points); 5-7 graduate student guard Edyn Battle (Jacksonville, first-team All-Atlantic Sun, 1,452 career points); 5-10 junior guard Kirsten Lewis-Williams (Buffalo, second-team All-MAC); and 5-8 junior guard Stefanie Ingram (Florida Atlantic, team-leader last season with 160 assists).
Returners such as 5-11 senior point guard Janette Aarnio, 6-3 junior forward Fatou Diakite, 5-11 sophomore guard Raina Tomasicka and 6-0 graduate student forward Ines Piper should also contribute heavily.
"I think we have really good chemistry right now,'' Brito said. "We have a lot of energy. And we're going to play really, really fast.''
"It's a good group, a special team,'' Mputu said. "We have a lot of shooters. We have athletes who can play defense. I'm excited. I think we're ready for the challenges ahead.''
And there are plenty of challenges.
The Bulls have non-conference games scheduled against the nation's top-three ranked teams in the Associated Press top 25 preseason poll — No. 1-ranked UConn (the defending national champion), No. 2 South Carolina (national runner-up) and No. 3 UCLA (Final Four team), along with No. 7 Duke (region finalist) and No. 19 Vanderbilt (NCAA Tournament team).
USF was picked No. 1 in the American Conference preseason poll. Fernandez always scheduled aggressively so his teams would be prepared for league play. Woods-Baxter said she subscribes to the same theory.
"We're going to hit times of adversity because that happens anytime you're playing the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 7 teams in the country,'' Woods-Baxter said. "But I think that adversity helps us build a stronger team and then it prepares us for conference play, when it really counts.
"None of our goals have changed. Our standard has always been to win games, to compete for the conference title and to get into the NCAA Tournament. Our veteran players have been through that and they know that's our standard. Now we're bringing all of our new players into that standard and those expectations as well.''
Mputu said it's full speed ahead.
"I was surprised that our head coach (Fernandez) was leaving, but I'm really so happy for him,'' Mputu said. "It's a really good opportunity for him. With Coach B (Woods-Baxter) taking over, it's going to be the same thing, the same goals. I'm really happy for her as well and excited to see how she's going to coach us and get us to all of our goals.''
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ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
South Florida women's basketball has made 19 postseason tournament appearances and had 10 NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez's 25 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided the Bulls to 12 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2008-09 WNIT championship, and has won 485 career games, and is the all-time wins leader in the American Conference
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