Former LSU player Jalen Courtney-Williams named assistant coach
BATON ROUGE – LSU head coach Matt McMahon announced on Thursday that former Tiger basketball player Jalen Courtney-Williams is joining the LSU men’s basketball coaching staff as assistant coach.
Courtney-Williams joins the Tiger staff after three years as a member of the coaching staff at Creighton. He had previously served at McNeese and Mississippi State.
Creighton advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all three years with Courtney-Williams on the staff, advancing to the Sweet 16 this past season with 25 wins. Creighton defeated Akron and Oregon in double overtime in postseason play before losing to No. 6 Tennessee.
The Bluejays won 24 games and advanced to the BIG EAST semifinals in 2023 before winning three games against NC State, No. 11 and Princeton in the NCAA Tournament before falling in the Elite 8 to San Diego State.
In his first season for Cortney-Williams at Creighton (2021-22), the Bluejays won 23 games. Advanced to the BIG EAST championship game and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jalen Courtney-Williams and his family back to LSU,” said Coach McMahon. “He is a star in the profession with an elite ability to build relationships, recruit high level players, teach the game, and impact winning. He was a part of tremendous success in his time at Creighton as the defensive coordinator and with his work in player development. He has a passion for LSU and we are looking forward to the new energy and ideas he will bring to our program.”
Courtney-Williams played in 61 games at LSU in three seasons (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13) before transferring to Morehead State where after sitting out a transfer season in 2013-14, he played for MSU in the 2014-15 season.
Courtney-Williams played an extensive part in Creighton’s recruiting class that was ranked among the nation’s best, which included three members of the 2021-22 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. His work with Ryan Kalkbrenner helped him earn BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year each of the last three seasons and he was a national finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Offensively, he was ranked in the top five nationally in field goal percentage.
Courtney-Williams spent three years at McNeese State as an assistant coach and following the 2020-21 season he was promoted to associate head coach before ultimately accepting the coaching position at Creighton.
At the Lake Charles school, he coached some of the top big men in the Southland Conference and was recognized as a high-level recruiter.
Among his top performers were All-Southland performer Sha’Markus Kennedy, a 6-foot-8 forward who was also tabbed the 2020 Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Prior to his time in Lake Charles, Courtney-Williams spent three years on the staff at Mississippi State, where he served as a graduate assistant and also as the team’s video coordinator.
At LSU, he played for Coaches Trent Johnson and Johnny Jones, playing 26 games in his junior season. At the two schools combined, he would play a total of 66 games. Courtney-Williams earned his degree from Morehead State in communications in 2015.
Courtney-Williams signed with LSU following a stellar prep career at Provine High School in Jackson, Mississippi. As a senior, he averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds en route to garnering All-State and All-Metro accolades while also being tabbed the Mississippi High School Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
A McDonald’s All-American nominee, Courtney-Williams led the Rams to two 5A state titles as well as two runner-up finishes in his prep career.
Courtney-Williams and his wife, La’Shya, have three daughters, Sevyn, Salem and Snoh.
The hiring is pending the completion of the standard background check and approval by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
