Jesse Bopp enters his fourth season with FIU as an associate head coach as he was elevated from an assistant prior to the 2021-22 season. Bopp served as an assistant coach for three seasons, and was named the recruiting coordinator prior to the 2019-20 season in addition to his assistant coaching duties.
During the first two seasons, the Panthers compiled 39 wins, the most in any two-year span in program history, including a 19-13 mark in 2019-20 before the remainder of the season was cancelled to the COVID-19 outbreak. During his second season at FIU, the squad finished with a 9-9 league record, earning the fifth seed for the program's highest-ever seeding for the Conference USA Tournament. During the conference tournament, the Panthers took down Rice 85-76 for the program's second-ever win at the postseason tournament.
FIU led the nation in blocked shots (210) and swats per contest (6.6) during the 2019-20 campaign. The team also ranked 11th in three-point defense (28.8) and total steals (280). The Panthers 8.8 steals per game ranked 13th nationally.
Bopp coached a pair of FIU players who earned Conference USA Second Team Honors with Osasumwen Osaghae and Devon Andrews taking home the honors. Along with the award, Osaghae was named to the all-defensive team and earned FIU's first-ever Conference USA superlative after being named the Defensive Player of the Year.
Bopp reunited with head coach Jeremy Ballard for his inaugural season as an assistant coach for the 2018-2019 season at FIU. The duo spent the 2013-2015 seasons together under Shaka Smart at VCU. During their first year together at FIU, the results quickly followed. FIU had a 10-8 mark in Conference USA and finished the season with an overall 20-14 record. Those 20 wins tied for the second-most in school history, and it was only the third time FIU logged 20-or-more victories. The 10 C-USA wins were the most since joining the league in 2014. Following the completion of the regular season, FIU appeared in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament (CIT). In the first round, the Panthers won their first-ever postseason tournament game with an 87-81 victory at Texas State. This was only the second postseason appearance in program history.
As a team, the Panthers set several single-season school records, including points (2,798), rebounds (1,218), assists (491) and steals (359), led the nation in steals-per-game (10.6), turnover margin (5.6) and turnovers forced (19.6), and was second in total steals.
During the 2020-21 season, Bopp saw the program go 9-17 overall and 2-15 against Conference USA opponents. He mentored a team that broke a pair of program records during the squad's dominant 111-34 victory over Carver. The Panthers' 34 assists and 20 made three-pointers were the new program records set. The previous mark for assists was set in 1990, while the last record from three was set at Cleveland State in 2019.
Bopp spent the 2017-2018 season as the head varsity coach at nationally recognized IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The results of that season were an 18-13 record and qualifying for the NCSAA post-season tournament. Bopp carries a 67-54 career record in four seasons as a high school head coach, including stops at IMG Academy and Vermont Academy.
He spent the 2016-2017 season as an assistant coach at New Mexico State University. While setting a school record for wins (28; the most for any first-year staff in the country), the Aggies achieved the third-longest winning streak of the year in college basketball (20). In March 2017, they captured the 2017 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament Championship and secured the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
During the 2015-2016 season, he was an assistant coach at Chattanooga. The Mocs season included a school-record 29 wins, which was the most for any first-year staff in the country. The team also clinched a Southern Conference regular-season and tournament championship and a bid to 2016 NCAA Tournament. Both of which were a first for UTC since 2009. The regular-season title was the Mocs' first since 1994. The previous wins record of 27 dated back to the 1982 season (27-4), matching the total the 1977 NCAA Division II National Champions posted (27-5).
Prior to his time at Chattanooga, he spent two years at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, as the Director of Basketball Operations from 2013-2015 under Shaka Smart.
VCU went 26-10 in 2014-15, including 12-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A10). The Rams were a No. 25 ranking in the final Associated Press (AP) poll and captured the 2015 A10 Tournament championship, advancing to the NCAA Tournament before falling to Ohio State (75-72) in overtime. This marked the program's first A10 title and ninth overall conference title for VCU. The Rams also became the first team since Xavier in 2006 to win four games in four days at the A10 Tournament. The squad finished the year at No. 15 in the NCAA RPI with the nation's toughest non-conference schedule and the eighth-toughest overall schedule. The team posted 14 wins against the NCAA RPI Top 100, with nine of those victories coming away from home.
In 2013-14 VCU registered a 26-9 mark, including a 12-4 record in the A10. The Rams advanced to the NCAA Tournament and ranked No. 24 in the final AP poll and the team climbed as high as No.10 in the AP poll on Nov. 19, 2013, the highest AP ranking in school history (previous best was No. 11 on March 11, 1985).
From 2010-2013 he was the head basketball coach at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont, where his team competed in the nationally regarded New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). During Bopp's three seasons at Vermont, he compiled an overall record of 49-41. He recruited and coached 15 players that would go on to play at the college level (10 at Division 1). The team also earned three straight post-season appearances, which were the first in school history.
In 2009-2010 he served as a graduate assistant at VCU under Smart. While setting a school record for wins (27), the most for any first-year staff in the country, their season culminated with a College Basketball Insider Tournament Championship over St. Louis. The team was led by Larry Sanders, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, and was the 15th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. This was the highest draft pick in VCU history.
Bopp got his start in college basketball as a graduate assistant under Billy Donovan during the 2008-2009 season at the University of Florida. The Gators went 25-11 and advanced to the NIT Quarterfinals that season.
Bopp played in college at Plymouth State University from 2003-2007. He graduated in 2007, with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, and later earned a master's degree in Sport Leadership from VCU in 2010.
Bopp and his wife, Brianna Lucas, were married in August of 2018. The couple gave birth to their first child, Jaxson, in April of 2019.
