Former star’s No. 21 jersey in rafters
Alumna Davidson scored 1,857 points, 245 3-pointers at Navy
As a golden banner with the number “21” and the name of a woman who changed her program irrevocably hoisted high in the rafters of Alumni Hall, Courtney Davidson O’Brien felt overwhelmed and honored. The fact that her name will hang forever above the court she’d spent so much time on so long ago hasn’t quite sunk in yet.
The moment was lifted from bright to radiant because she wasn’t standing on the court facing her banner alone, but surrounded by scores of Navy women — former teammates to current players, coaches and friends.
“The biggest thing is seeing all my teammates, seeing how many people came into town, and seeing how much this program has meant for all of us,” O’Brien said. “That’s what makes it special.”
Navy women’s basketball retired the jersey number of Courtney O’Brien, known as Davidson when she played at Alumni Hall, at halftime of the annual Army-Navy women’s basketball game. It was a tangible reminder of the greatness the Navy women’s program has achieved in its history.
O’Brien departed the Naval Academy as the program’s all-time leader in scoring (1,857 points) as well as the leader in made 3-pointers (245), which places her fifth in the Patriot League record book. She also was fifth in free throw percentage (.832), while her 160 steals currently rank 11th in Navy history.
As the banner was hoisted, tears rose to current Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper’s eyes. O’Brien’s sister, Whitney, who was a senior in Pemper’s first year of coaching, felt the same emotion well up.
“There can be, there is and there should be a sisterhood of women who make it through this place. It is not easy, even in the year 2020, it is not easy,” Pemper said. “It’s another opportunity to celebrate a woman that is so impressive, a great midshipman. One of her former teammates, and actually a kid she took minutes from, a young woman who was a senior when Courtney was a freshman and got relegated to the bench. She flew with her son from Portland, Oregon, to be there last night and today.”
As much as Navy women’s basketball owes to O’Brien, who currently flies Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, she owes the path her life has taken to Navy.
“I never would have pursued a military career had I not been recruited to play basketball here. I didn’t know what the military was. I didn’t know what the Marine Corps was,” O’Brien said. “Basketball opened the door to all of that, and also the lifelong friendships we have for the people I was on the team with at the time. They’re a support system for all walks of life, whether it’s a military career, as moms, as activists, as civilian pilots.”
It felt truly fitting to return to the court during an Army-Navy clash. Some of O’Brien’s top memories stemmed from those games, including a tilt in 2004 in which she scored a career-high 31 points to lift Navy over its rivals 75-73.
“Emotions run way higher. You jump higher. You run faster. You’re more physical with the other team because the stakes are a whole lot higher,” she said.
Even nearly two decades later, O’Brien still enjoys the rivalry. She gently ribbed the Army players, joking about their turnovers.
“You see that date on the schedule and you look forward to it all year, to get out there into that charged up environment. You just want to show them that you’re better,” O’Brien said.
The Pennsylvanian native proved how valuable she would be from the very start of her Navy career, making her way into the starting lineup as a freshman where, as Navy’s leading scorer, she would average 11.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, making her way to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team.
Each year, O’Brien only improved, with a total from the free throw line (122-136) that still sits No. 1 all-time in Navy’s record book, as well as eighth overall at the time in all of NCAA Division I basketball.
In her junior and senior seasons, O’Brien became the team’s leading scorer yet again — tallying 530 and 525 points, respectively — the No. 1 and No. 2 all-time single-season marks.
She graduated in 2004 as only the second player in history to have garnered AllPatriot League honors every year of her career (there are now seven), including three-straight first team selections.
When O’Brien graduated, she didn’t leave basketball behind. She converted those skills and lessons learned into life as a Marine Corps officer.
“When you’re in a squadron with a bunch of pilots and air crew, bringing us all together as a team and challenging us all to get better individually, and that means we all get better together,” she said. “Taking that kind of coaching, coming together to form something better than yourself.”
That’s something that current senior Mary Kate Ulasewicz is taking to heart. She, too, is headed down the road of the Marine Corps.
“Last night, we went to the jersey retirement dinner, and it really does feel like a sisterhood,” Ulasewicz said. “She’s come back a couple times and we’ve met her. I’m going Marine, we have two people going Marine, so it was cool to see an NWB alumni that was so successful in the Marine Corps … She’s an inspiration for sure.”