Photo courtesy of YSU Athletics / Chloe Whitlock Youngstown State assistant coach Courtney Davidson makes a note on the Penguins’ bench during YSU’s road loss at Michigan State on Wednesday night at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich.

Courtney Davidson has fond memories from her playing career at Michigan State.

Before she got into coaching and eventually became an assistant on Melissa Jackson’s staff at Youngstown State, Davidson was part of a Michigan State team that went to the Final Four, the Elite Eight, the Sweet 16 and then the WNIT final during her four years with the Spartans.

Seventeen years after leaving Michigan State, Davidson made her return to the Breslin Center for the second time in her career on Wednesday night, as she helped coach the Penguins from the visitors’ bench in their 96-52 loss to the 24th-ranked Spartans.

“When I was an assistant at the University of Hartford, I got an opportunity to coach there for the first time, which was a very surreal experience,” Davidson said. “But this was even more special because being an alum of YSU with my master’s degree and obviously playing at Michigan State, it was kind of like alma mater on alma mater. So the city that raised me and made me who I am today, and the school that I bled, sweated and had tears for, got to play against each other, so it was a very special moment for me.”

While many of the people around the Spartans’ program back then moved on, there was still one familiar face that Davidson had the opportunity to reconnect with before and after YSU’s game.

Michigan State team trainer LouAnne Jefferson is still with the program. As fellow sorority sisters, Davidson has a special bond with her, especially after Jefferson helped Davidson rehab from an Achilles injury her junior year.

“Her and I spent a lot of time together, so it was really special,” Davidson said. “Obviously some fans are still around. But I think LouAnne really touched my heart because she’s still around impacting those student-athletes. She definitely got me back from my injury and really helped me press on, so it was special seeing her.”

However, even before YSU made the four-and-a-half hour road trip up to East Lansing, Davidson had the opportunity to reunite with her former Spartans teammates about a month ago on Oct. 11.

During MSU’s football game against UCLA on Homecoming weekend, the school honored Davidson’s 2004-05 national runner-up team on the field for the 20th anniversary of that Final Four run.

“I hadn’t seen my teammates in a long time,” Davidson said. “We are all over the country and adults with kids, so it was a special moment for all of us.”

Davidson’s coaching career has taken her to the College of Charleston, Radford, Hartford, Fordham, Loyola Maryland and of course, her two prior stints with the Penguins.

But one thing has remained constant throughout her coaching journey in what she tries to instill in her players, and those are the ideals she took away from her time at Michigan State.

“I went through a lot of adversity, a lot of things I had to overcome, and I think that is what I pour into our student-athletes here at YSU,” Davidson said. “No matter how hard it gets, you gotta continue to fight. That was our message (Wednesday) night, just pressing on and fighting together and overcoming things that you don’t think you can do.

“I try to instill that in any kid that I coach moving forward. As a Spartan, that’s kind of what we do. We fight to the end. So I want to make sure that our student-athletes understand that mentality.”