You’ve probably noticed her on the Indiana Pacers’ bench—calm, focused, clipboard in hand. Or maybe you’ve seen her sprint onto the court to break up a scuffle between players. Well, that’s Jenny Boucek. And she’s one of the NBA’s most experienced and respected assistant coaches. Since Rick Carlisle joined the Pacers in 2021, Boucek has been by his side, offering insights that only a former hooper and tenured coach could provide.
So, let’s get to know her better. We assure you that you’ll see Coach Jenny as more than just a part of Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff once you’re through!
Meet Indiana Pacers’ International Coach Jenny Boucek
Her official title is shooting coach, but don’t let that sell her short. Basketball is her language. She studies each player’s natural mechanics and then “mixes that with the science of shooting, which is physics and biomechanics,” she told the Indianapolis Star. But this groundbreaking coaching style starts to make sense once you learn how medicine ran in her family.
Her paternal grandfather, Dr. Mark Boucek, was part of the world’s first baboon-to-baby heart transplant. And her maternal grandfather founded Tulane’s psychiatry and neurology departments. Jenny’s father and mother both worked in healthcare. Boucek once planned to follow that path. “That was the unspoken assumption, even for my own self,” she told CBS. But Jenny decided her talents were better suited as a player and eventually, a coach. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention what a great job she’s doing and the rapport she’s built with the Indiana Pacers locker room so far!
It’s “a very reciprocal relationship, a lot of communication.” And the results speak for themselves: Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell have both improved their accuracy under her guidance. And look no further than them shooting above a 50% clip in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
You’ll often spot her chatting animatedly with Carlisle, leaning in to offer a suggestion or ask a question. She’s also fearless in the heat of the moment—rushing into scrums, arms outstretched, to keep peace. That level of involvement is rare, but it’s exactly why her presence on the bench has become a must-watch moment in these playoffs.
Is Pacers Jenny Boucek Married? Everything to Know About Her Relationship and Parenthood
Here’s a fact: Jenny Boucek is a proud mother. Her daughter, Rylie, was born just twelve days after Boucek accepted an assistant-coaching role with the Dallas Mavericks in 2018. She conceived Rylie via in vitro fertilization, and Carlisle—her mentor and friend—was one of the first people she told. In true team-player fashion, both Rick Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks created a non-traveling coaching role for Boucek so she could stay home and bond with her newborn without sacrificing her NBA coaching dream.
But marriage? Boucek keeps her personal life private. There’s no public record of a marriage certificate or a wedding photo floating around the internet. Instead, she’s wed to the idea of balancing high-pressure coaching and motherhood. “I knew there was a scenario where this would cost me my dream of coaching in the NBA,” Boucek admitted in 2018.
These days, she’s a single mother navigating the rigors of the NBA season and the joys of raising a child. She compares parenting to coaching: both require “live-in accountability” and constant exhortation. “You’re just doing that on steroids when you have your own kid,” she said, laughing. But with the Pacers in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals and Rylie thriving, we’d say she’s doing a great job!
Jenny Boucek’s WNBA and College Basketball Career
Long before her NBA sideline days, Boucek was blazing trails at the University of Virginia. She led the Cavaliers to four ACC regular-season titles and three Elite Eight appearances. Majoring in sports medicine and sports management, she graduated as the top student in Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development—thanks in part to a fifth-year plan that let her complete six mini-internships.
And when the WNBA offered her a tryout in 1997, she couldn’t resist. She played ten games for the Cleveland Rockers and even suited up overseas in Iceland in 1998, before a back injury cut her career short.
It was that setback that opened the door to coaching. In 1999, Boucek began her journey as an assistant with the Washington Mystics. She then moved to the Seattle Storm and helped them capture a WNBA title in 2004. It’s one trophy after another with her, huh? She eventually earned her first head-coach gig in Sacramento, then returned to Seattle as an assistant and later as head coach from 2015 to 2017.
Her NBA debut arrived with the Sacramento Kings, where she became just the third woman ever to serve as an NBA assistant coach. When she joined Carlisle’s Mavericks staff in 2018 as a new mom, she proved that motherhood and high-level coaching are not mutually exclusive. Today, she brings that same blend of scientific precision and human connection to Indianapolis, always seeking to “make every situation better for people around you.”
Jenny’s journey through basketball is definitely one of a kind. Not many people in the world would even look to break the mould they’re born into. But Jenny Boucek is someone who didn’t just break the mould, she made an entirely new one for herself. And as she blazes new trails, we’re sure her daughter couldn’t be more proud if she tried!
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