MUSCATINE, Iowa–Like many successful high school and college athletes, Courtney Joens has played basketball since she started elementary school at age five. Growing up, Courtney felt inspired by her father’s basketball skills and wanted to try playing for herself. “He played at Kirkwood and coached high school for the longest time, so his love for the game got me into it at an early age,” she said.
As she grew up, Joens showed she inherited her father’s aptitude for basketball. In high school, she played for City High. While there, she made it to the state semi-finals once, scored an impressive 41 three-point shots in her sophomore season, broke the school’s single-game point record (42) and single-game three-point shot record (eight), and ranked highly as a guard both in Iowa and nationally. In college, she played for the University of Illinois, competing in all its games all four years and continuing to lead as a scorer and three-point shooter. Outstanding accomplishments, Joens appreciated every minute of her time competing in college. “Playing some of the best athletes in the country in the Big 10 was pretty exciting.”
After graduating from college, Joens returned to Iowa City and opened Joens Basketball Academy. A youth program with teams for third through eighth-grade students, Joens offers private lessons for high school students too. Joens also got her coaching certificate and has gained experience by coaching the West Liberty High School varsity girls’ basketball team.
Courtney Joens at a West Liberty basketball game in the 2022-2023 season. Photo courtesy of Courtney Joens.
Ahead of this year’s basketball season, Joens looks forward to meeting the team and starting to work with them. “There’s kids at Muscatine that want to play basketball and are really invested in it and want to work hard, and that really appealed to me,” she shared. Throughout the season, she plans to work on the fundamentals, including shooting and dribbling, as they create a firm foundation for building other techniques. Additionally, she will help strengthen their defense, working on strategies like full-court pressing.
Joens knows she faces a learning curve transitioning from coaching at a smaller school to a larger one. She also acknowledged that the Muscatine High School girls’ varsity basketball team has gone through a difficult stretch, winning only five games in the 2021-2022 season and four in 2022-2023. She believes they can achieve a winning record and become contenders with a concerted effort over the next several seasons. “This year, it’d be awesome to go to state, but we’ll take baby steps, and hopefully, it’ll be a goal in the near future.”
