Yusef Fitzgerald enters his second season at Jones County Junior College after spending the past three years at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Originally from Atlanta, Fitzgerald moved to Mississippi at an early age. Deciding to attend Piney Woods High School, he embarked upon a successful playing career where as a junior, Piney Woods won its first state title in school history in 1994 finishing 36-8 and ranked in the top 10 final rankings in the state.
The following year as a senior starter the team repeated as state champs going 37-2 and finishing No. 1 in the state of Mississippi. Upon graduating he accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Tougaloo College in Jackson, where he played under Coach James Turner (Mendenhall High School Head Coach) from 1995-1998.
After the ’98 season he decided to pursue other opportunities outside of basketball working for his uncle Socrates Garrett with Garrett Enterprises in Jackson
In 2006 he began his coaching career with the Jackson Panthers AAU program and in the fall of that same year worked as an assistant coach at Velma Jackson High School. After one season at VJ, he returned to his alma mater, Piney Woods, and accepted the offer to join Coach Lemuel Jones’ staff as an assistant.
During the 2007-2008 season he received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and moved north to Chicago. Hired as an assistant to Patrick Bowie at Dyett High School and also the Head Coach of the Freshman/Sophomore team, he was instrumental in the development of the team and helping them reach the playoffs in the famed city of Chicago’s public league. He was hired by legendary coach Loren Jackson (Victory Rock Prep-Sarasota, FL) at Julian High School where he coached some of the top talent in the city including Walter Lemon, Jr. (Bradley University ’14), Shayok Shayok (UMKC ’15), Jamari Traylor (Kansas ’15) and Phil Green IV (St. John’s University ’15). That summer he joined forces with Meanstreets AAU organization and was a coach on a team that included Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans), Julius Brown (Toledo ’15), Alvin Ellis (Michigan State ’17), and Kendrick Nunn (Illinois ’17) among others.
At IMG Academy he served multiple roles including head coach of the Elite varsity team where he has had the pleasure of coaching countless college players and trained a number of qualifty players that includes Deandre Daniels (San Antonio Spurs), Chris Fowler (Central Michigan ’17), Brian Green Jr. (Florida Gulf Coast ’17), Eric Robertson (South Dakota ’17), Mangok Mathiang (Louisville ’17) and many more. In 2014-2015 his team finished 19-9 and was loaded with talent such as Dwayne Bacon (Oak Hill Academy, ’15), Corey Sanders (Kathleen High School, ’15), Oliver Black (Mississippi State ’18), Dante Scott (IMG Academy ’15), and Tysean Powell (Duquesne ’18).
Fitzgerald has two children, his son Jordan Whittington of Madison (17) and daughter Ari Boykin of Ridgeland (3).
