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Ethan Stewart-Smith (Penn State Altoona '07) is the 15th men's basketball coach in Washington & Jefferson College history. The 2024-25 season marked his 10th season as the head coach of the Presidents.
Faced with the task of rebuilding the program from the ground up, the Presidents have enjoyed great success in seven winning seasons in the past eight. W&J has twice finished the regular season atop of the PAC. The Presidents captured the 2021-22 PAC Tournament title and reached the finals again in 2024-25.
W&J finished the 2024-25 season as PAC Tournament runner-up. The Presidents put together a 21-7 overall record, which marked a 12-win improvement from a season prior. The season was highlighted by W&J's road win over Saint Vincent in the PAC Tournament Semfiinals.
After a slow start to the 2023-24 season, the Presidents finished the season winners in seven of the last 10 games. The winning streak included an overtime upset win over eventual PAC regular season and tournament champions Geneva College. Alex Acosta earned First Team honors for his breakthrough sophomore season.
W&J reached 20 wins for the second-straight season by finishing 20-7 overall in 2022-23. The Presidents finished 16-4 in the league to lock down the top seed in the PAC Tournament for two consecutive years. Three Presidents earned All-PAC honors including Kyran Mitchell on First Team while Matt Seidl secured Second Team honors and Nick Gearhart was an Honorable Mention pick.
Stewart-Smith led the Presidents to a school-record 24 wins and a PAC Tournament title in 2021-22. The conference title was W&J's first since the 1994-95 season, as the Presidents rallied to a 68-63 win over Chatham in the title game. For his efforts, Stewart-Smith was voted PAC Coach of the Year for the first time. He coached Michael Bigley to PAC Newcomer of the Year honors while Kyran Mitchell and Nick Gearhart earned First Team All-PAC honors.
W&J compiled a 7-3 record during an abbreviated 2020-21 season. The Presidents finished tied for second place in the PAC regular season standings and hosted a PAC Tournament Quarterfinals game for a second straight year. Cameron Seemann garnered Second Team All-PAC status for a third consecutive season.
W&J finished 2019-20 with a 14-12 overall mark and a 9-7 record in league play. The Presidents earned the No. 4 seed in the PAC Tournament and hosted a quarterfinals game for the first time since the 2010-11 season. W&J secured a winning campaign for the first time since 2008-09. Seemann earned All-PAC Second Team laurels for a second straight season.
In 2018-19 as the Red and Black finished 8-8 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play. W&J suffered a 55-54 setback to eventual conference champion Chatham in the PAC Tournament Quarterfinals. Seemann earned All-PAC Second Team honors following the season. Freshman Primo Zini made an immediate impact, as the freshman won PAC Rookie of the Week five times. Sophomore guard Zach Queen broke the school record for made three-pointers in a season with 80.
Stewart-Smith joined W&J after a successful season as an assistant at Carnegie Mellon University in 2014-15. Prior to that, he spent five seasons as an assistant at Dickinson College.
At CMU, Stewart-Smith was the recruiting coordinator and defensive coordinator for the Tartans, responsible for coaching and calling the defense in-game. The 2014-15 campaign was the most successful since 2008 for CMU, finishing 14-11 overall, including a 72-59 win over then-No. 12 Washington University in St. Louis on Feb. 6, 2015. Two student-athletes were also honored with All-University Athletic Association honors following the season.
Defensively, the Tartans finished the regular season leading the UAA and ranking 32nd nationally in defensive efficiency, allowing opponents to shoot just 39.3 percent from the field. The squad also ranked in the top five nationally in blocked shots per game (third; 6.1) and finished 23rd in defensive rebounds per game (28.12).
Stewart-Smith spent five seasons at Dickinson, working under Seretti, a former assistant coach at W&J. In 2010-11, the Red Devils posted a record of 15-12, the single-best turnaround in Centennial Conference history and only the second time in 12 years the team finished with a winning percentage of over .500.
During the 2012-13 season, Dickinson won its first CC tournament since 1997, posted the school's first NCAA tournament victory and set then-records for wins in a season (21) and conference wins (13). The following year, the Red Devils finished 24-7 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight after winning the CC regular-season championship, finishing ranked 11th in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
In all, he helped recruit five classes of 25 total players from 10 different states to Carlisle, including Adam Honig, a 2014 graduate and National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American, Centennial Conference Player of the Year and four-time All-CC selection. Another of his recruits, Gerry Wixted was named the National Player of the Year and First Team All-America by D3hoops following his senior season of 2014-15.
Before heading to Dickinson, Stewart-Smith was an assistant coach for one season at his alma mater, Penn State Altoona, where he graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business with concentrations in marketing and management.
An instructor at the Hoop Group camps and Keystone State Games since 2009, Stewart-Smith has worked at numerous additional individual and team camps around the region.
He was a four-year starter at Altoona, where he was an all-conference selection as a junior and finished his playing career as the school's all-time leader in assists and steals. He still ranks in the top 10 in numerous statistical categories for the Lions.
| Year-by-Year Record |
| 2024-25 |
21-7 |
| 2023-24 |
9-16 |
| 2022-23 |
20-7 |
| 2021-22 |
24-4 |
| 2020-21 |
7-3 |
| 2019-20 |
14-12 |
| 2018-19 |
10-16 |
| 2017-18 |
5-20 |
| 2016-17 |
4-21 |
| 2015-16 |
1-25 |
| Total |
115-132 |
