Grit, love and gratitude.

Those are the three core principles for new University of South Florida women's basketball head coach Kristy Curry. Those words roll off the tongue. They sound catchy. It's a snappy phrase (sometimes referred to as "GLG'') that fits well on a poster or wristband.

But it's a lot more than that.

It's the way Curry coaches. It's how she lives. And it's definitely the manner in which her program operates.

"I can promise you grit, love and gratitude aren't just hollow words for Kristy Curry,'' said UT Arlington head coach Shereka Wright, who was an All-American while playing for Curry at Purdue University (2000-04) before becoming a WNBA first-round draft pick. "She puts those words into action. She lives them with sincerity every single day.''

"I think I'm always going to carry grit, love and gratitude with me for the rest of my life,'' said Sarah Ashlee Barker, a former All-SEC guard at Alabama under Curry who now plays for the WNBA's Portland Fire. "With Coach Kristy, it was always about more than just basketball. She genuinely wanted us to be mature, great young women for the university and the people in our lives. She cares. She really does.''

And Curry wins. She really does.

With a 554-322 career record in 27 seasons, Curry is the only head coach in women's basketball history with 100 or more victories at three different Power Four conference programs (Alabama, Texas Tech and Purdue). She has 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national runner-up, two Elite Eight's and four Sweet 16's. She has achieved a 20-victory season on 16 occasions.

"I haven't been in the business for 20 years — and the game has changed so much with all these kick-outs for 3-pointers — but I still love the way Kristy's teams play and I think the South Florida fans will feel the same way,'' said Hall of Fame head coach Leon Barmore of Louisiana Tech, which went to nine Final Fours and captured the 1988 national championship on his watch. "The players love playing for her. Kristy's teams are sound and disciplined. Those kids are listening during the timeouts and they execute when it matters. They play hard. They have fun. Kristy is firm, but fair. She holds them accountable, but hugs them up when that is needed.

"I hired Kristy on my staff (at Louisiana Tech from 1996-99) and I wish I could take credit for some of this. Hopefully some of the things we did in our program rubbed off on her. But Kristy really is that good. She's a gem of a coach.''
 

Fun Style Of Play

So what will USF women's basketball look like under Kristy Curry?

She's hesitant to assign hard-and-fast criteria to the Bulls.

"One of the joys of coaching is taking your personnel, then adjusting and adapting,'' Curry said. "We're probably going to have to do a little of that in Year One.''

Ideally, Curry said, the Bulls will play "position-less'' basketball.

"I think we have a fun system and style that we play,'' Curry said. "We want to play fast, where you're making one-second decisions. In recruiting, it's a fun system and it has worked pretty good.

"I think we've been pretty successful on the offensive end. It's a system and style of play that prepares you for the next level and can also get you to the NCAA Tournament. When it's time to execute, we'll work on special situations because it's important to execute in the key moments. We work a lot on shooting and do a lot of things with accountability every day in practice. It's a really hard game to play if you can't make a shot. I feel like we've done a good job of shooting and recruiting shooters over the course of our career.''

Of note: Curry's Alabama Crimson Tide ranked among the nation's top 3-point shooting teams in each of the last four seasons, twice leading the SEC and finishing third nationally at 38.5-percent in 2024-25.

"Coach Kristy wants to see selfless basketball,'' Barker said. "It was always very important for us to play together and keep the ball moving. She wanted to see a lot of assists in the game and not be one-person dominant. She'll want to see the entire team involved and everyone understanding their role. And approach each day with a positive attitude, ready to attack every day with everything you've got.''

"She's intense, of course, but she knows it's a players' game and she sees it through the eyes of the players,'' Wright said. "She likes to get out there and run, put up some points, but you better play some defense. You better stop the ball. I think overall, she has always been really good at putting the right people in the right places. I mean, with her record and her longevity, she knows this game pretty well. She knows which buttons to push.''

For Curry, the personal side has always mattered. She always said she had two daughters (Kelsey and Kendall) at home, then 15 more (her players) at the basketball office.

"When you can switch your mindset to more positive and filter out the negative, you have a chance to impact young people,'' Curry said. "To some degree, that's why we are all in coaching. I know we're judged on wins and losses, but my faith is important to me, doing things for others and impacting those around you in the most positive way possible.

"Whether it's being a mom or wife or spending time with my family or being out in the community or with your own program, I think all the things intertwine.''

And they continually intersect with Curry's three core principles.

Grit, love and gratitude.
 

Living Her Values

Curry said her three principles are "simple.''

"We feel like it has been a separator for us throughout our career,'' Curry said. "It's reflective of how our teams play, how they perform in the classroom, the court and the community.''

How do those values translate?

Grit: "We will be the hardest workers — and that starts with me — in the classroom, on the court and in the community,'' Curry said. "I try to be real gritty and fiery. If you have a strong work ethic, you can do and be anything in this world that you want to be.''

At Purdue, Wright said she remembers Curry's insistence on a gritty approach. She has the same expectations for the players she coaches at UT Arlington.

"Everybody understands (physical) toughness on the basketball court, how you can't back down, how you've got to bring it every night,'' Wright said. "But you also need a gritty attitude, a resilience, a no-quit approach. You're going to keep it going, regardless of the obstacles you face.''

Barker said grit involves a lot of honesty.

"She's not afraid to say the hard things,'' Barker said. "She's truthful and sometimes that hurts. But you listen to what she says, not necessarily the way she's saying it. You've got to be tough enough to take some (constructive) criticism and not get your feelings hurt.''

On a personal level, Curry said grit allows her to weather the season's inevitable grind, along with the challenges of the modern landscape in college athletics.

"I think I used to work myself to death, maybe, but I've gotten a lot better at the balancing act,'' Curry said. "You pick your spots. You adjust and adapt, especially in this era. A lot of coaches want to complain and maybe they want to get out (of coaching). I think I see it all as a new challenge. And I love a challenge.''

Love: "We will love one another, this community and this university like nothing you've ever seen,'' Curry said. "I just love people. I love being enthusiastic. I think a smile is contagious. You love those around you and don't judge them.''

"Play hard, play together, respect each other, have that love for your teammates,'' Wright said. "That's basically it.''

In Curry's world, there's a lot of tough love.

"When I came to Alabama, I understood that she wanted to challenge me and push me in every way possible,'' Barker said. "She was going to coach me hard. Of course, as a player, you'll have days that you'll be annoyed with your coach, just like I'm sure there were many days where she was annoyed with me.

"But at the end of the day, I remember how up-front she was. She said, 'I'm going to coach you hard and that's going to be the best thing for you.' And it absolutely was. I wouldn't be where I am today had she not constantly held me accountable. That's a form of love.''

Gratitude: "We will have a proactive mindset of being thankful for the moment, along with the program, university and community we represent,'' Curry said. "I'm so grateful where our game is. We all have a responsibility to shepherd that and grow that. We have the opportunity to play this great game and get a great education. I want our young women to understand the value of their degree and the things they can learn through our sport that can impact the rest of their life and their community in such a great way.''

Barmore said Curry always has displayed an attitude of gratitude.

"It stands out to me that she's a caring person who always cares about her family, her players, her university and all of that is deeply embedded in her,'' Barmore said. "Once she recruits these players, she places high demands on them. But she's always up front and honest with them. She wants them to understand and be grateful for the advantages they get and the people who help them along the way.''

"The culture and the appreciation of what you're doing, that's always so important,'' Barker said. "She always said, 'We can fix the X's and the O's, the defensive coverages and all that other stuff.' But you can't teach effort and hustle. It has to come from deep inside you. And that's part of having an attitude of gratitude, being a good teammate and respecting the privileges we all have as being part of the program.''

It has worked well at Curry's other stops.

She's committed to working the same plan at USF.

"You trust the process and who you are … and you rely on what you've learned along the way,'' Curry said. "I've been in three very unique situations before South Florida. Purdue had just won the national championship (in 1999 with Carolyn Peck then taking a WNBA job). I followed a legend (Marsha Sharp) at Texas Tech. Then I had the chance to go to Alabama for a complete rebuild.

"Those three experiences really formed who we are. I think the Good Lord had an amazing plan for me. We've been really blessed with some crazy, wonderful, amazing opportunities. I feel very fortunate to be here at USF and we're excited about how it's all going to unfold.''