Paul Cortes grew up in San Francisco and has been coaching basketball in the city since 2011. Paul has coached at the recreational, AAU, and High School level. He is currently the Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at International High School.
Paul first started coaching basketball after being hired as a Recreation Leader for the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, where he began by working the summer Minnie and Lovie Ward Basketball Camp. After the summer session, Coach Paul worked to organize skill clinics for neighborhood youth at Ingleside United Presbyterian Church, as well as coach multiple teams for Rec and Park.
Also in 2011, Paul began serving as a volunteer assistant for Bay City. Paul joined in official capacity as a coach in the fall of 2012. In the years that have followed, Paul has head coached many teams for Bay City, as well as helped to run camps and clinics for the program and now serves as the Director for Player and Coach Development.
Paul worked under Coach Greg Grossman at Gateway High School for the 2011-2012 season as a volunteer assistant, and in 2012-2013 coached at Gateway in official capacity as Assistant Varsity Boys Coach as well as the Head JV Boys Coach. The following season, Paul joined Coach Jon Shogan’s staff at Jewish Community High School of the Bay, where he served as an Assistant Varsity Coach and Head JV Boys Coach from 2012-2016.
Since the 2016-2017 season, Paul has been the Head Boys Varsity Coach at International High School. During his tenure the Jags have won three BCL Central league championships and advanced to the North Coast Section playoffs 4 times. In 2024, coach Paul led the Jaguars to a 26-7 record and a CIF state final four run.
“I fully believe in a relationships-first approach to coaching. You build on that with your skill development, X’s and O’s, and game coaching, but the sacrifice and trust that it takes to strengthen relationships is at the core of everything we do. It is through getting to know each other and wanting the best for each other as people, that we best can accomplish our goals in basketball and in life.”
Paul Cortes
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