Every morning on his way to work, Jimmy Polisi’s job was the same: a pair of Starbucks cups in the cupholder, a quick phone call and a routine 10-minute detour that was never like the last.
Upon reaching the street corner, Polisi was greeted with a smile by Bill Courtney. As two key contributors to Temple’s Men’s Basketball program, the pair were accustomed to the habitual nature of the game. In that short car ride, however, their conversations were anything but predictable.
“We just never knew what we would talk about that day,” Polisi said. “It always made the mornings a lot better, you know?”
Long before their trips to North Philadelphia, Polisi, now Temple’s Director of Men’s Basketball Operations, was a graduate assistant at the University of Miami. Helping with travel, food, baggage, and anything the team needed, he was tasked with building relationships with both players and staff. One of these connections blossomed with Coach Courtney, then an assistant coach with the Hurricanes. Ironically, the two first bonded over their lack of transportation.
“As my relationship grew with him, he would be like, ‘Jimmy, can you take someone’s car and take me to get some groceries?’” Polisi said. “Little stuff like that made our relationship grow, and I would love being with him.”
Over time, the two’s relationship grew alongside their basketball careers. Courtney took over Miami’s interim head coaching position during the 2024-25 season. Polisi, meanwhile, joined Head Coach Adam Fisher in continuing the legacy of collegiate hoops on Broad Street. In June 2025, Courtney flew to Philadelphia to join some familiar faces.
During his tenure at Temple, Courtney quickly sparked a relationship with his Owls that positioned him not just as a coach, but also as a mentor. To those around him, he was a jolt of positivity whenever he walked in the room.
“When he came in, he instantly made an impact,” said senior guard Connor Gal. “If we were down, he would always be the one to make sure we’re all positive.”
For Adam Fisher, however, this kind of influence was nothing new. From 2019 to 2021, the two shared the hardwood instructing the Miami Hurricanes as assistant coaches. Their time together was marked by a shared enthusiasm for player relationships and day-to-day consistency. That established familiarity played a role in Fisher’s decision to bring Courtney onto his staff at Temple.
“Bill is a proven winner and one of the most respected coaches in our industry,” said Fisher at the time of Courtney’s hiring. “His 30-plus years of experience, his ability to connect with people and his tireless work ethic will make him a tremendous addition to our program.”
At the time, Fisher’s endorsement was a reflection of the expectations that came with Courtney’s hiring. What followed over the coming months, however, told Fisher something that he already knew: Courtney’s influence went far beyond his resume.
“I will forever cherish every day that he’s been a part of our staff,” Fisher told reporters following Temple’s loss to FAU on Jan. 18. “I just want to continue the legacy and that passion of being a good person, because that’s what he was. Just a great person that got to know people.”
For Fisher and Polisi, this way of life serves as both a standard and a sense of responsibility. Emphasizing character and connection, the two understand the shared legacy that Courtney first started nearly four decades ago. It is in those simple moments, like those Polisi and Courtney shared every morning en route to campus, that his impact lives on.
“He never had a bad day,” said Polisi. “So I try to live with that mindset [that] there’s a lot worse that could be going on than what we see each and every day.”