Courtney Jaco has been promoted to an assistant coach for the USC women’s basketball program for the coming 2023-24 season, head coach Lindsay Gottlieb announced today (July 1). Jaco has served as director of player development for the past two seasons on Gottlieb’s staff, and her promotion enables her to serve in coaching and recruiting roles for the Women of Troy.
“Courtney Jaco is a ‘Trojan for Life’ in the best sense of the term,” Gottlieb said of Jaco. “As a player she was hardworking, disciplined, accomplished and respected. She has carried those qualities into her professional career. She is knowledgeable and relatable: a terrific resource for our players. Sharp, prepared, personable, Courtney is a rising star in the coaching world.
“I am thrilled to announce her promotion to assistant coach, and I’m grateful to have Courtney with us as we strive every day to make her alma mater the elite program in women’s college basketball.”
As an assistant coach for the Trojans, Jaco takes on on- and off-court coaching and scouting along with recruiting responsibilities. She continues to oversee USC player development, including film work and individual assessment and training as well as financial literacy and career development for the Women of Troy. Jaco also serves as a liaison to resources such as nutrition, mental performance and recovery.
USC’s No. 2 all-time 3-point shooter and a Pac-12 Champion, Jaco returned to Troy in 2019 to serve as video coordinator for USC women’s basketball. Prior to that, Jaco played professionally overseas and spent a season as a women’s basketball intern at Stanford.
Before closing down her USC playing career in 2017, Jaco picked up back-to-back All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Honorable Mention as a senior. She still stands as USC’s most productive 3-point shooter, ranked No. 1 all-time with a 35.8 percent career effort from beyond the arc while moving up to No. 2 all-time with her 217 threes landed. A freshman on USC’s 2014 Pac-12 Tournament Championship team, Jaco would close her USC career with 65 starts in 127 appearances as a Trojan. Jaco played professionally for a season in Greece at the club Esperides, where she was the team’s second leading scorer with 12.2 points per game in 2018-19.
A three-time Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention recipient, Jaco earned a master’s degree in communication management at USC and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in nonprofits, philanthropy and volunteerism. The Compton native prepped at Windward School in Los Angeles. Jaco also served as a video coordinator for the WNBA’s New York Liberty in 2020 and 2021.
Tagged with: PAC-12 USC
