Purdue Women's Basketball Adds Second New Assistant Coach to Staff
In this story:
The Purdue women's basketball program has announced another new addition to its staff for the 2026-27 season. On Friday, the school confirmed that it has hired USF's Bojan Jankovic to be an assistant coach.
Jankovic has more than 20 years of coaching experience, working at both the college level and serving as an assistant with the Serbian Women's Senior National Team.
"I'm super excited to welcome Bojan to our Purdue family," head coach Katie Gearlds said in a statement. "His experience in college and on the international stage will be an excellent fit for our program. We can't wait for him to start working with our student-athletes."
Jankovic has spent the past two seasons coaching at USF. Before that, he was at Ole Miss for two seasons (2022-24), Louisiana Tech (2019-22), Wyoming (2015-19) and Oral Roberts (2010-15). He was also an assistant coach for the Serbian Women's Senior National Team from 2013 through 2017.
Throughout his career, Jankovic has earned a reputation as a coach who can develop post players. The Boilermakers will be looking to take some big strides in the frontcourt, especially with 6-foot-7 forward/center Avery Gordon entering her sophomore season and fellow forwards Lana McCarthy and Kendall Puryear entering the transfer portal.
Right now, there are six players from Purdue's 2025-26 roster in the transfer portal.
Second staff addition for Purdue this offseason
Jankovic is the second staff addition for Gearlds this offseason. The program has also hired Emily Ben-Jumbo as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Ben-Jumbo came to Purdue from Xavier, where she spent the 2024-25 campaign. She has also coached at San Jose State and Loyola Marymount.
Purdue also did not retain Mark Stephens, who had spent three seasons on the bench in West Lafayette. He has worked as an assistant coach and as the program's recruiting coordinator from 2022 through 2025.
The Boilermakers are coming off a 13-17 campaign, needing to make progress for the 2026-27 season. Purdue did upset No. 23 Washington and snapped a long losing streak to Indiana during the 2025-26 season. As a result, the Boilers earned the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Still, the program is looking to take major steps towards returning as a contender in the Big Ten and competing for a spot in the NCAA Tournament regularly.
Get top Boilermakers stories, expert analysis, and can't-miss moments straight to your inbox for free by signing up for the Purdue Boilermakers on SI newsletter!
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
Follow SchutteDustin