Jamie Craighead Turner Returns to Women's Basketball Coaching Staff
6/12/2026 12:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The University of San Francisco women's basketball program and Head Coach Molly Goodenbour have announced that Jamie Craighead Turner has returned to the coaching staff for the 2026-27 season.
"I am so excited to have Jamie back on staff," Goodenbour said. "She rejoins us in an expanded role to include associate head coach and general manager responsibilities. Jamie's basketball expertise and exceptional organizational and leadership skills immediately elevate our ability to positively coach and serve our student-athletes."
Before returning to the Hilltop, Turner served as Director of Basketball at ISI Academy in Walnut Creek, Calif., during the 2025-26 school year, where she played an integral role in launching an innovative school model that combined academics, athletic development, and performance training for student-athletes. In that role, she oversaw all aspects of basketball, including player development, coaching staff leadership, curriculum design, recruiting and enrollment support, and strategic program growth.
In her first stint with the program during the 2024-25 campaign, Turner helped guide San Francisco to a 15-16 overall record and a fifth-place finish in the West Coast Conference standings at 11-9. The Dons' 11 league wins last season marked the most victories in WCC play since the 2016-17 season. Turner played a significant role in the team's success, which included one of the program's best-ever starts in conference play, at 5-0, and defeating teams by an average of 13.8 points.
Turner joined the coaching staff after spending nine seasons at the helm of the women's basketball team at San Jose State. Throughout her tenure in the South Bay, Turner accumulated 89 wins, the third most by any head coach in program history.
Under Turner's guidance, the Spartans reached the Mountain West Conference Tournament twice in 2015 and 2020, marking just the second and third times the program advanced that far in the conference tournament. In addition, the team's 19 wins on the 2019-20 campaign were the program's most since the 1979-80 team won 22 games.
In the 2019-20 season, her most successful team, the Spartans posted the nation's most significant single-season win turnaround, going from six victories in 2018-19 to 19 wins the following season. Led by the youngest coaching staff in the Mountain West, the Spartans finished in a tie for third place in the league standings, the best-ever finish for a team picked last in the conference's preseason poll.
Before her time at San Jose State, Turner served as the head coach at Sacramento State from 2009-13. In four seasons with the Hornets, Turner was the winningest women's head basketball coach in 20 years, accumulating 51 victories, and the only coach to post a winning conference record since the program entered the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
In her final season at Sacramento State, the Hornets set several program records in 2012-13, including field goals, assists, blocked shots, and the fewest turnovers committed. The team also led the Big Sky in points, three-pointers, and assists. On the defensive end, the team topped the league in steals and blocks.
As a student-athlete at Oregon, Turner competed on the women's basketball team from 1998-02 and helped guide the Ducks to three NCAA Tournament appearances and a Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) title in 2002. When her playing career ended in 2002, Turner ranked second all-time in program history in three-point field goals with 182.
Turner is married to former student-athlete Melanie Turner, who competed on the Hilltop as a member of the women's basketball program from 1998-02.
For updates and more information on the San Francisco women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.
"I am so excited to have Jamie back on staff," Goodenbour said. "She rejoins us in an expanded role to include associate head coach and general manager responsibilities. Jamie's basketball expertise and exceptional organizational and leadership skills immediately elevate our ability to positively coach and serve our student-athletes."
Before returning to the Hilltop, Turner served as Director of Basketball at ISI Academy in Walnut Creek, Calif., during the 2025-26 school year, where she played an integral role in launching an innovative school model that combined academics, athletic development, and performance training for student-athletes. In that role, she oversaw all aspects of basketball, including player development, coaching staff leadership, curriculum design, recruiting and enrollment support, and strategic program growth.
In her first stint with the program during the 2024-25 campaign, Turner helped guide San Francisco to a 15-16 overall record and a fifth-place finish in the West Coast Conference standings at 11-9. The Dons' 11 league wins last season marked the most victories in WCC play since the 2016-17 season. Turner played a significant role in the team's success, which included one of the program's best-ever starts in conference play, at 5-0, and defeating teams by an average of 13.8 points.
Turner joined the coaching staff after spending nine seasons at the helm of the women's basketball team at San Jose State. Throughout her tenure in the South Bay, Turner accumulated 89 wins, the third most by any head coach in program history.
Under Turner's guidance, the Spartans reached the Mountain West Conference Tournament twice in 2015 and 2020, marking just the second and third times the program advanced that far in the conference tournament. In addition, the team's 19 wins on the 2019-20 campaign were the program's most since the 1979-80 team won 22 games.
In the 2019-20 season, her most successful team, the Spartans posted the nation's most significant single-season win turnaround, going from six victories in 2018-19 to 19 wins the following season. Led by the youngest coaching staff in the Mountain West, the Spartans finished in a tie for third place in the league standings, the best-ever finish for a team picked last in the conference's preseason poll.
Before her time at San Jose State, Turner served as the head coach at Sacramento State from 2009-13. In four seasons with the Hornets, Turner was the winningest women's head basketball coach in 20 years, accumulating 51 victories, and the only coach to post a winning conference record since the program entered the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
In her final season at Sacramento State, the Hornets set several program records in 2012-13, including field goals, assists, blocked shots, and the fewest turnovers committed. The team also led the Big Sky in points, three-pointers, and assists. On the defensive end, the team topped the league in steals and blocks.
As a student-athlete at Oregon, Turner competed on the women's basketball team from 1998-02 and helped guide the Ducks to three NCAA Tournament appearances and a Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) title in 2002. When her playing career ended in 2002, Turner ranked second all-time in program history in three-point field goals with 182.
Turner is married to former student-athlete Melanie Turner, who competed on the Hilltop as a member of the women's basketball program from 1998-02.
For updates and more information on the San Francisco women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.
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