Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU assistant coach Courtney Davidson looks on during the Penguins’ first full-team practice of the summer on Tuesday at the practice courts at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — It’s been awhile, but Courtney Davidson is finally back home once again at Youngstown State.

Davidson is no stranger to the Beeghly Center, as the Youngstown native and Ursuline alum returned to the area for her third coaching stint with the Penguins this past offseason after new head coach Melissa Jackson hired Davidson for her staff as an assistant coach.

“It’s always special to be home,” Davidson said. “I think there’s something really special going on with Coach Jackson. I think Coach Barnes did a phenomenal job leaving the program in good hands, and Coach Jackson has been great in these first three, four months. So I’m excited to just help play a part like I’ve done in the past and help hang another banner.”

Davidson first got her start in the college ranks as YSU’s director of operations on former head coach John Barnes’ staff during his first season in 2013.

She was then director of operations at the College of Charleston for a season, before getting her first coaching job as an assistant coach at Radford in 2015. Davidson spent two seasons at Radford before returning to YSU for her second stop with the Penguins in 2017, this time as an assistant coach on Barnes’ staff.

After two seasons with the Penguins, Davidson spent the next five seasons moving between stops at Hartford, Loyola Maryland and Fordham, where she was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at each school, before finally returning to YSU in April.

“I’ve always followed the program. I’m an alum, and I got my Master’s here (in 2011),” Davidson said. “It’s home and I always followed from afar, even while I was gone. So I was invested in who they were going to hire, and then once I saw Coach Jackson got the job, then it was a no-brainer to come back home for me. I’m just happy that she thought enough of me to give me an opportunity. So it’s exciting to be back.”

But before she even got into coaching, Davidson was breaking records and winning championships just across Route 422 at Ursuline.

During her decorated high school career, she averaged 20 points per game, scoring 2,067 points, dishing out 705 assists and grabbing 257 steals. She led the Fighting Irish to the 2004 Division III state championship during her senior season, Ursuline’s first and only state title in program history. Davidson scored 21 points in the team’s 66-52 victory over Oak Hill in the state final at Value City Arena in Columbus.

As a highly sought-after recruit, Davidson then went on to play college basketball at Michigan State, where she was a part of the Spartans’ national runner-up team as a freshman in 2005. She had her best season as a senior, averaging 7.1 points per game as the team’s sixth man off the bench.

“Being able to win a state championship, then follow that year with going to a national championship just made me even more competitive,” Davidson said. “Every team that I’m a part of, championships are the goal, but there’s a right way to do it. Every day getting in the gym and getting better day-by-day — it’s a marathon, not a sprint. So I’ve really just taken that player mentality and turned into a coach and tried to pour that into our student-athletes.”

However, Davidson never necessarily envisioned getting into coaching at first.

But she knew once her playing career was over, that she wanted to stay around the game. So she got her start as an assistant coach at Ursuline from 2008 to 2011, before eventually taking over the Irish as head coach for two seasons until joining the college ranks at YSU.

“Once I started at the high school level, I just knew I wanted to keep giving back to the game,” Davidson said.

The transition from coaching at the high school level to the college game was “fairly easy” for Davidson.

“It was more about perspective,” Davidson said. “The game is the game, and then just being able to see it from a different angle.”

The perspective that Davidson brings as a coach is one of the reasons why Jackson felt like she made an ideal addition to YSU’s new coaching staff.

“I’ve known Courtney for a long time. So I’ve watched her career and watched her develop,” Jackson said. “It was really imperative that I bring some people that know the Youngstown area and know this campus. So when I got the job, she reached out and we had some great conversations. Then I quickly found out she’s a really good basketball coach and has a great mind. The fact that she’s from Youngstown was just an added bonus.

“Staff is so important to me. Not only do I want to bring in great basketball coaches, but elite people that you want to come to work every single day with. I could not be happier with my staff right now. Our chemistry is at an all-time high. We’ve really clicked in the short time that we’ve gotten to know each other, and I think that translates to the court as well.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.