SPORTS
Janssen Promoted to Davidson Women’s Basketball Associate Head Coach
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Four years into his coaching career with the Davidson women’s basketball program, James Janssen has been promoted to associate head coach, head coach Gayle Fulks announced Thursday.
Coach James Janssen has a lot to smile about.
“James’ fingerprints are all over our program,” Fulks said. “Since the day he got here he has made an immediate, positive impact on the implementation of our style of play, our player development efforts and in recruiting top talent from all over the world. He has established a great reputation among our fan base, our players and across our entire campus. He brings a tremendous amount of value to our program every single day and I am thrilled for him to be elevated to our Associate Head Coach position.”
In his four seasons with the ‘Cats, Janssen has helped establish the program’s Australian recruiting pipeline, which has brought current Wildcats Cassidy Gould, Suzi-Rose Deegan, Keeley Evans and Adelaide Fuller to Davidson. With the addition of incoming freshman Issy Morgan, Davidson will enter the 2021-22 campaign with the most Australians on a roster across NCAA Division I women’s basketball.
During the 2019-20 campaign, Janssen’s trio of Australian recruits (Deegan, Fuller & Gould) combined for 863 total points and averaged 27.8 points per game. Leading the group was Deegan, who finished her rookie season with 461 points, while earning the program’s first Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year title along with First Team All-Conference honors.
“I am incredibly thankful for Coach Fulks and Athletic Director Chris Clunie for believing that I am deserving of being promoted to Associate Head Coach,” Janssen said. “Coach Fulks and I are entering our 10th season together, and getting to coach alongside one of the best, young head coaches in our game is something that I do not take for granted. Despite having grown up 10,000 miles from here, the Davidson campus and community has become a home for my family, and coaching here is absolutely a dream come true. I’m looking forward to continuing to serve our scholar-athletes, Davidson athletics and the Davidson community in the coming years.”
Janssen has played an integral part in the Wildcats’ offensive scheme during his tenure, helping the program post two straight seasons with a winning record (2018-19 & 2019-20) while leading the ‘Cats to two top-5 finishes in average scoring across the Atlantic 10.
Janssen joined the Wildcats after five seasons at Wake Forest University. Then a graduate student and volunteer for the Deacons, he worked closely with Fulks, while she was an assistant coach with the ACC program. While at Wake Forest, Janssen assisted with player development, on-campus recruiting, opposition scouting, camps, and sports science consulting.