The Pacers are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year with one of the NBA’s few women assistant coaches providing guidance from the bench.
Indiana took care of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in five games in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. It did the same to a gifted Cavaliers side, eliminating the conference’s top seed with a 4-1 series victory.
To advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000, Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle will have to be at his absolute best.
Fortunately, Carlisle has built up quite the staff — including star assistant coach Jenny Boucek on the Pacers’ bench.
Get to know the former Virginia star and WNBA player-turned-coach, including how she has worked her way up the NBA coaching totem pole.
Who is the Pacers’ female coach?
Boucek, 51, has been an NBA assistant coach for seven seasons.
She started her career as an All-ACC caliber player at the University of Virginia from 1992-96. Boucek averaged 7.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals over her career, reaching three Elite Eights with the Cavaliers.
As a double major in sports medicine and sports management, Boucek never had plans to play professional basketball. She came from a family of doctors and nurses and planned to pursue the same career, according to a feature by Legends Magazine’s AJ McCord.
But when the WNBA was established in 1997, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“The WNBA had a tremendous purpose. That gripped my heart,” she told Legends Magazine.
NBA PLAYOFFS HQ: Live NBA scores | NBA playoff schedule | NBA playoff bracket
Boucek ended up playing for the Cleveland Rockers in the WNBA’s 1997 inaugural season, but she suffered a career-ending back fracture.
Two years later, she returned to the WNBA as an assistant coach and never looked back.
