Cynthia "C.J." Jordan named women's basketball assistant coach
Thursday, April 2, 2026 | Women's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Head Women's Basketball Coach Tammi Reiss announced today that the team has retained Gators' assistant coach Cynthia "CJ" Jordan. Jordan originally joined the Florida coaching staff in 2022, helping the Gators to four straight winning seasons, and three postseason berths, while overseeing the recruiting of a trio of McDonald's All-Americans including the highest ranked recruit in program history.
"I am so excited that Cynthia will be staying on staff with our women's basketball family," said Reiss. "I have watched her growth from her days at South Carolina to her time here at Florida and am excited to get the chance to work alongside her. Cynthia has incredible interpersonal skills that connect her with people and build lasting relationships which enable her to recruit at a high level. She is a believer in the student athlete experience and puts their growth and welfare as young women as her top priority. She is hard working, extremely loyal, growth-minded and has the uncanny ability to problem solve quickly.
"Cynthia has been invaluable to me, bridging the gap for me with our players, community and operational systems here at UF to make my transition seamless. Above all, I love who Cynthia is as a person and love coming to work with her every day. I couldn't be more excited to start this new journey with CJ. Go Gators!"
"I'm truly grateful to Coach Reiss for her trust and belief in me to continue at the University of Florida. What we're building is bigger than basketball — it's about developing strong, connected people and doing things the right way every day. I'm aligned with Coach Reiss' vision of a tough, disciplined, player-first program built on composure, communication, compete, and collective. That standard shows up in how we prepare, how we support each other, and how we perform. I'm proud of the direction we're headed and excited to keep pushing this program forward while developing our student-athletes on and off the court."
Over the past four years, Jordan helped lead the Gators to top-25 wins over No. 20 Alabama in 2025 and No. 19/20 Ole Miss during the 2026 season, while assisting in the recruiting and development of a trio of McDonald's All-American's in Liv McGill, Me'Arah O'Neal and Laila Reynolds. McGill earned Associated Press and WBCA Honorable Mention All-America accolades in 2025-26, was honored with a spot on the All-SEC First Team, and was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Midseason Watch List. McGill and O'Neal also each earned SEC Player of the Week honors in 2025-26.
Prior to making her way to Florida, Jordan served as both the director of women's basketball operations (2012-22) and video coordinator (2008-11) for Head Coach Dawn Staley at South Carolina. The Gamecocks won two NCAA Championships, seven SEC Tournament titles, six regular season conference championships, and more than 350 games during Jordan's time in Columbia, as she worked alongside some of the greatest players in the game in A'ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston.
In 2007, Jordan began her career in collegiate athletics as a graduate assistant at her alma mater, Temple.
On the court, Jordan was a four-year letter winner for the Owls women's basketball team under Staley before playing professionally overseas. As a senior, she averaged 11.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.96 steals per game while connecting on 40.0 percent of her three-pointers, and a conference-leading 79.5 percent of her free throw attempts. That same season, Temple won a program-record 28 games, finished the year ranked 15th in the nation by the Associated Press (the first national-ranking for the program) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history.
Jordan earned her bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing in 2004, and her master's degree in sports and recreation administration in 2009, both from Temple.
"I am so excited that Cynthia will be staying on staff with our women's basketball family," said Reiss. "I have watched her growth from her days at South Carolina to her time here at Florida and am excited to get the chance to work alongside her. Cynthia has incredible interpersonal skills that connect her with people and build lasting relationships which enable her to recruit at a high level. She is a believer in the student athlete experience and puts their growth and welfare as young women as her top priority. She is hard working, extremely loyal, growth-minded and has the uncanny ability to problem solve quickly.
"Cynthia has been invaluable to me, bridging the gap for me with our players, community and operational systems here at UF to make my transition seamless. Above all, I love who Cynthia is as a person and love coming to work with her every day. I couldn't be more excited to start this new journey with CJ. Go Gators!"
"I'm truly grateful to Coach Reiss for her trust and belief in me to continue at the University of Florida. What we're building is bigger than basketball — it's about developing strong, connected people and doing things the right way every day. I'm aligned with Coach Reiss' vision of a tough, disciplined, player-first program built on composure, communication, compete, and collective. That standard shows up in how we prepare, how we support each other, and how we perform. I'm proud of the direction we're headed and excited to keep pushing this program forward while developing our student-athletes on and off the court."
Over the past four years, Jordan helped lead the Gators to top-25 wins over No. 20 Alabama in 2025 and No. 19/20 Ole Miss during the 2026 season, while assisting in the recruiting and development of a trio of McDonald's All-American's in Liv McGill, Me'Arah O'Neal and Laila Reynolds. McGill earned Associated Press and WBCA Honorable Mention All-America accolades in 2025-26, was honored with a spot on the All-SEC First Team, and was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award Midseason Watch List. McGill and O'Neal also each earned SEC Player of the Week honors in 2025-26.
Prior to making her way to Florida, Jordan served as both the director of women's basketball operations (2012-22) and video coordinator (2008-11) for Head Coach Dawn Staley at South Carolina. The Gamecocks won two NCAA Championships, seven SEC Tournament titles, six regular season conference championships, and more than 350 games during Jordan's time in Columbia, as she worked alongside some of the greatest players in the game in A'ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston.
In 2007, Jordan began her career in collegiate athletics as a graduate assistant at her alma mater, Temple.
On the court, Jordan was a four-year letter winner for the Owls women's basketball team under Staley before playing professionally overseas. As a senior, she averaged 11.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.96 steals per game while connecting on 40.0 percent of her three-pointers, and a conference-leading 79.5 percent of her free throw attempts. That same season, Temple won a program-record 28 games, finished the year ranked 15th in the nation by the Associated Press (the first national-ranking for the program) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history.
Jordan earned her bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing in 2004, and her master's degree in sports and recreation administration in 2009, both from Temple.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballTammi Reiss Introductory Press Conference | 3-24-26
Wednesday, March 25
SEC Tournament: Liv McGill and Coach Finley Postgame Press Conference 3-5-26
Thursday, March 05
SEC Tournament Postgame Press Conference 3-4-26
Wednesday, March 04
SEC Tournament: Liv McGill, Me'Arah O'Neal and Coach Finley Postgame Press Conference 3-4-26
Wednesday, March 04
