TAMPA, Fla. (April 6, 2026) – University of South Florida women's basketball head coach Kristy Curry has announced her coaching staff as she enters her first year leading the Bulls.
Curry and USF welcome assistant coaches Kelly Curry, Tennille Adams, Bri Hutchen, Sydney-Anne Cottrell, Parker Lovett, and Director of Operations Emily-Kate Taylor.
"I am excited to officially welcome this group to Tampa Bay's Home for Hoops," Curry said. "Each of them brings a unique level of experience, relentless work ethic, and passion for helping each student-athlete compete at the highest level in the classroom and on the court."
Kelly Curry - Assistant Coach
Kristy Curry has named Kelly Curry as Assistant Coach for the Bulls.
Kelly Curry comes to South Florida after more than 30 years as an assistant coach, including the last 13 seasons at Alabama. Before time on the Crimson Tide bench, he had assistant coaching stops at Texas Tech, Purdue and Louisiana Tech.
For his career achievements, Curry was inducted into the A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame in 2025. He will serve as the offensive coordinator at USF.
As offensive coordinator at Alabama, the Tide was known for their pro-style offense and spacing. Over the past six seasons, the Crimson Tide ranked among the top 35 nationally in offensive efficiency and ranked in the Top 25 in three-point percentage the last four seasons. Alabama also led the SEC in three-point percentage in three of the last four years. The program has reached the NCAA Tournament in five of the last six seasons and has been consistently ranked in the Top 25 over the past three years.
Curry also played a prominent role as a position and development coach for five WNBA draft picks, including three in 2025…Sarah Ashlee Barker, Los Angeles Sparks (9th overall pick); Aaliyah Nye, Las Vegas Aces (13th); and Zaay Green, Washington Mystics (32nd). All three scored at least 1,000 points in their careers, with Barker named a two-time All-SEC honoree. Nye, also an All-SEC selection, made more than 100 3-pointers in each of her last two seasons and holds Alabama records in numerous categories.
Curry was also instrumental in the development of Jasmine Walker, who was selected 7th overall in the 2021 WNBA Draft and was an All-SEC performer. Walker was the second first-round pick in program history and the first Alabama player to be drafted since 1999. Also, Brittany Davis was an All-SEC honoree and a third-round draft pick for the Las Vegas Aces in 2023, and Jordan Lewis was named the 2017 SEC Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press. Lewis and Karly Weathers (2026) were also named SEC Scholar Athletes of the Year.
At Texas Tech, Curry helped guide the Lady Raiders to two NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons. He worked primarily with post players while also handling scheduling, recruiting and scouting opponents. Texas Tech held opponents to less than 60 points per game in each of Curry's final three seasons as the defensive coordinator.
At Purdue, Curry helped lead the Boilermakers to three Big Ten Tournament titles and two Big Ten regular-season titles, and seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2001 national championship game. He helped develop eight WNBA draft picks, including five first-round selections: Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper, Shereka Wright, Katie Gearlds and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton.
Curry started his coaching career at Louisiana Tech, where he coached under Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore for one season (1998-99). He helped lead the team to a 30-3 record, reaching the NCAA Final Four.
Curry graduated with his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M in 1990 and earned his
teaching certificate from Stephen F. Austin in 1993. He and his wife, Kristy, have two daughters, Kelsey and Kendall.
Tennille Adams - Assistant Coach
Tennille Adams enters her first season at South Florida after three years at Alabama under Kristy Curry.
Adams brings 21 years of coaching experience, including roles as an assistant, associate head coach and head coach. She has participated in five NCAA Tournaments, coached four WNBA draft picks, and helped secure three recruiting classes ranked in the Top 20 nationally. She is highly regarded as one of the top post-player development coaches in the country.
Before joining the Crimson Tide, Adams was Associate Head Coach at UCF, Memphis and Wright State, helping lead Wright State to a pair of Horizon League titles and NCAA Tournament appearances.
Adams also served as an assistant coach at Ball State, Northwestern, American, North Carolina A&T, and began her career at Lon Morris Junior College. At Ball State, she aided the Cardinals to three consecutive WNIT berths. During her five seasons at Northwestern, assisting the legendary Joe McKeown, Adams brought in two Top 20-ranked recruiting classes and helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back WNIT appearances. Adams left Northwestern for the head coaching position at Howard, where she led the Bison for two seasons.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas, Adams played for Hall of Fame coach Gary Blair. Adams scored the historic putback that sent the Razorbacks to the 1998 NCAA Final Four, their first in school history. She then led the Hogs to the WNIT Championship the following year. Adams was ranked among the nation's top five post players in high school and was an Indiana All-Star and a Parade All-American.
Bri Hutchen - Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Bri Hutchen joins South Florida after four years in the same position at Delaware.
At Delaware, the 2024-25 squad set a new single-season record for made 3-pointers (206), and the prior season saw Tara Cousin win the CAA Dean Ehlers Leadership Award, the league's most prestigious honor. Hutchen was honored as a recipient of the 2023 WBCA Thirty under 30 award, recognizing 30 rising young coaches under 30 years of age by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
Hutchen spent a season at George Washington and three seasons at Stony Brook as an assistant coach. While at Stony Brook, Hutchen helped the Seawolves to the 2020 America East Championship and the 2021 America East Tournament Championship, earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. She also served as the program's liaison for the Black Student-Athlete Huddle Committee.
Beginning her career as director of operations at Iona, Hutchen was promoted after two years to assistant coach in her third and final season with the Gaels. She was on staff when Iona won the MAAC Championship and clinched a berth to the NCAA Tournament during the 2015-16 season. During her tenure, Hutchen assisted with practice and scouting, film breakdown, recruiting and camp coordination.
Hutchen played at Alabama for Curry, graduating with her bachelor's degree in 2014 and following up with her master's in 2015.
Hutchen has one daughter, Charlee, and is the developer of U.S.E. Basketball, a mentoring program based out of the DMV area, which gives young girls the opportunity to connect with people from a familiar background and help set and achieve life goals.
Sydney-Anne Cottrell - Assistant Coach
Sydney-Anne Cottrell moves to South Florida with Kristy Curry after three seasons on the Alabama bench.
While at Alabama, Cottrell helped the Crimson Tide to NCAA Top 25 national rankings and NCAA Tournament appearances each season. She was named a recipient of the 2026 WBCA Thirty under 30, an award given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to recognize 30 up-and-coming women's basketball coaches aged 30 and under at all levels of the game. Cottrell coached three 2025 WNBA draft selections in Sarah Ashlee Barker, Aaliyah Nye and Zaay Green. Barker, Nye, and Jessica Timmons received All-SEC honors, and Karly Weathers was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year during Cottrell's tenure on the Alabama sidelines.
As assistant coach, Cottrell headed up video operations at Alabama, a specialty she began while a graduate assistant for Hall of Fame coach Gary Blair at Texas A&M. In her first season with the Aggies, Cottrell was an assistant video coordinator to Sydney Carter during the Texas A&M run to the 2021 SEC title. She took over as video coordinator the following year during Blair's last season as coach.
After graduating from Texas A&M with her master's degree, Cottrell spent a year as Director of Video Scouting and Recruiting Operations at Elon University under Coach Charlotte Smith before joining Curry's staff at Alabama.
A prolific shooter, Cottrell played Division I college basketball at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for legendary coach Royce Chadwick. She began her collegiate career as a walk-on before earning a scholarship. She helped her team to the school's first-ever Southland Conference championship, was named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll five times, and served her team as SAAC Representative.
College Athletics runs deep in Cottrell's family. Her father, Ron, was an assistant at Arkansas for legendary Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson before embarking on a 34-year head coaching career at Division I Houston Christian University (formerly HBU), where he amassed more than 500 career wins. Cottrell's mother, Jacque, had a long career in athletic media relations at Arkansas, the Southwest Conference, the Cotton Bowl, HBU and the Great West Conference. Her sister, Scottlyn, has worked in athletic academic services at HBU, Texas A&M, Maryland, Oklahoma, and is currently the Director of Learning Services for Penn State Athletics.
Parker Lovett - Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development
Parker Lovett joins Kristy Curry's first South Florida staff as Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development.
Lovett comes to South Florida after serving as a graduate assistant at Alabama during the 2025-26 season. He supported the women's basketball coaching staff with scouting, film breakdown, recruiting logistics and player development. Lovett also helped oversee all in-game challenges, reviews and defensive statistics.
Before Alabama, Lovett worked in several roles at LaGrange College, including as women's basketball student assistant coach, the director of creative content for the athletics department, and the president of the Sport Management Club. He was also a student-athlete on the cross country and men's basketball teams.
As a student assistant coach, he led scouting reports, in-game substitutions, play calling and adjustments. His teams finished fourth in NCAA Division III in BLOB efficiency and 13th across all divisions of college basketball.
Lovett served as the director of creative content for Pacific and Navy men's basketball and worked as a camp coach for NCAA college basketball camps.
He holds a bachelor's degree from LaGrange College and earned his master's degree from Alabama in 2026.
Emily-Kate Taylor - Director of Operations
Kristy Curry has named Emily-Kate Taylor as Director of Operations.
Taylor comes to South Florida after serving as the Assistant Director, Events & Facility Operations at Alabama. She managed game day operations for all women's basketball and women's soccer home games, including oversight of 30-plus gameday staff, all game official communications, and coordinating logistics for home and visiting team parking and entry. Taylor also handled all head football coach movements for Alabama football recruiting events.
Serving as a team operations & family events intern with the Peach Bowl Inc., Taylor assisted in the planning and execution of key events while working for the Peach Bowl for seven years, while also working the 2021 Chick- fil-A Kickoff Game.
While a student, Taylor worked in the business office at Alabama, assisting with football travel plans and itineraries.
Taylor is a graduate of the University of Alabama.
