Bio
Courtney Eldridge is in his ninth season on the Iowa staff. Eldridge was elevated to assistant coach in April 2022, after serving as the program’s director of recruiting and player development from 2020-22 and video coordinator from 2017-19.
Since 2019, the Hawkeyes have won 19+ games each season, have been a mainstay in the national rankings and NCAA Tournament and won the 2022 Big Ten Tournament championship.
Iowa has finished in the upper half of the Big Ten standings seven of the eight seasons with Eldridge on staff, including placing third in 2021 and fourth in 2022.
In 2022, the Hawkeyes won four games in four days to capture the Big Ten Tournament title, their third in program history, which ties as third most in the league. Iowa finished fourth in the conference standings and won 26 games; the second highest single season win total in program history.
Iowa had one of the most dominating players in college basketball during a four-year stretch when Luka Garza was twice named National Player of the Year and was a consensus first-team All-America selection in 2020 and 2021. Keegan Murray was a finalist for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy, earned consensus first-team All-America laurels and was named the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year in 2022. Kris Murray was voted consensus third-team All-America, was a finalist for the Karl Malone Award and a semifinalist for the Wooden and Naismith awards.
Eldridge and the Hawkeye staff have recruited and coached a first-team All-Big Ten honoree in five of the last eight seasons. In 2024, Owen Freeman became the second Hawkeye all-time (and first in 30 years) to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
Over the last five seasons, Iowa combined to win 106 games, finished fifth place or better in the Big Ten standings four times, won a Big Ten Tournament title (2022), competed in the last three NCAA Tournaments and won 20 games over AP Top 25 opponents.
In 2021, Iowa won 14 Big Ten regular season games, its highest total since 1987. The Hawkeyes earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, tying its highest ever seed in the tournament.
Eldridge and the Hawkeyes have been one of the highest scoring teams in the Big Ten in each of the last six seasons, including ranking fifth nationally in 2021 (83.7) and 2022 (83.2). Iowa averaged more than 83 points in consecutive seasons for the first time in 27 years and the program has scored 80+ points in four straight seasons for the first time since 1968-72. Additionally, Iowa was tops in Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio in 2021 (2.0) and 2022 (1.74), while ranking third in 2024 (1.85).
During his first three years as video coordinator, Eldridge assisted with film breakdown and compiling player development edits. He also organized in-depth statistical data and various analytic measures for the coaching staff.
Eldridge played basketball at UNC-Greensboro (UNCG) from 1998-2002, followed by a 12-year professional career in Brazil, Poland, Italy, Belarus, Turkey and the Dominican Republic. In addition to working men’s basketball youth camps, he was a high school boys basketball coach at East Boston High School and Saint Joseph Prep School in Brighton, Massachusetts.
Eldridge helped the Spartans post three winning seasons during his career, including a 20-win campaign in 2001-02. He was part of the Spartans’ 2001 NCAA Tournament team that won the Southern Conference Tournament title and finished with a 19-12 record. As a senior, he led the team to the SoCon North Division co-championship and an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with a 20-11 record.
Eldridge was a two-time SoCon first-team selection (2001, 2002), as well as a two-time SoCon All-Tournament recipient (2001, 2002). He is the Spartans’ all-time leader in assists (584) and is second in program history in steals (226). Eldridge holds the UNCG single season records for assists (182 in 2002), and also owns the second (179) and eighth (142) highest marks in school history. He is the school record holder for steals in a season (82 in 2001) and also owns the third highest total (78 in 2002). Eldridge is 10th all-time in UNCG scoring history with 1,329 career points and third all-time with 395 career free throws made. Eldridge is one of three UNCG greats to have their jersey retired; his No. 23 jersey was retired on April 24, 2002.
Eldridge earned his college degree in business administration from UNCG in 2015. He and his wife, Aisha, have four children — Khalil, Dante, Jordan and Aliyah.
