Stewart-Smith looking for building blocks at W&J
W&J’s new men’s basketball head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith watches while his team makes a foul shot during the first half of Wednesday night’s game.
W&J head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith yells instructions during the first half against Denison Wednesday night.
W&J freshman Wengly Saintlouis tries to get around Denison’s Garrett Collier during the first half of the game on Wednesday, November 18. Denison won 78-63.
W&J’s Brian Graytok shoots during the first half while Denison’s Matthew Bauer defends.
For Ethan Stewart-Smith, the easy part was getting the job.
He was hired last spring to take over as the head coach of the Washington & Jefferson College men’s basketball program, replacing Glen Gutierrez, who resigned after nine seasons.
Now, Stewart-Smith has to live up to the expectations of turning around a program that has not won a Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship since 1995.
Starting with a roster of just 12 players.
And no seniors.
And eight first-year players.
If you think Stewart-Smith is intimidated or overwhelmed, you don’t understand the man.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” he said. “We’re going to build from the bottom up. There are talented players here and the hope is that they develop as we develop the program.”
The Presidents played Wednesday night’s home game against Denison, a 78-63 loss, with only one player above 6-5: Tristan McGillicuddy, a willowy 6-10 sophomore who did not play.
The lack of strength under the boards resulted in Denison outrebounding W&J 38-29. The Presidents’ inexperience showed in the turnover box, where they had 17.
“We struggled to hang onto the ball and lost the turnover battle,” said Stewart-Smith. “When someone outrebounds you like that and has 23 more shot attempts, that’s a lot to overcome. We knew coming in Denison was a good team and we would have to play near-perfect (basketball) to take them down. We’re struggling to do that right now.”
The positives? Brian Graytok, a 6-1 sophomore transfer from Juniata College, scored a team-high 21 points and 5-11 freshman Wengly Saintlouis had 15 points, four assists and two steals, but he committed nine turnovers. The Presidents (0-2) also shot well, 51 percent on 45 attempts from the field, and six of 10 from three-point range.
“We did a good job shooting when it went inside then out,” Stewart-Smith said. “We need more of that. … We have to emphasize those positives to the group.”
One of Stewart-Smith’s strengths is that he has been a part of a rebuilding process before arriving at W&J. For five seasons, Stewart-Smith was an assistant coach to Alan Seretti, who built the Dickinson program into a force in Division III and a power in the Centennial Conference. Seretti, a former assistant coach at W&J and coach at Penn State-Altoona when Stewart-Smith was there as a player, took a team with a 4-19 record in the 2009-2010 season and led them to a 15-12 record the following season. It was the biggest turnaround in one season in conference history. Dickinson has made four appearances in the conference tournament finals and won one title. The Red Devils advanced to the Elite 8 in 2014, when Seretti earned his 100th career win.
“The last conference title W&J won was in 1995,” said Stewart-Smith. “The last conference title Dickinson won before Seretti was 1997. We have some similarities.”
Stewart-Smith is a graduate of Bellefonte High School and Penn State-Altoona, where he finished his playing career as the school’s all-time leader in assists and steals. He spent some time in sales before deciding on a coaching career. He was an assistant coach at Carnegie Mellon University last season, where he was a recruiting coordinator and defensive coach. The Tartans finished 14-10, their best record since 2008.
Two of his three freshmen recruits for W&J – Saintlouis and Joe Satira – combined for 14 points and eight rebounds in a season-opening 79-60 loss to Baldwin Wallace.
Saintlouis is an intriguing player, a recruit from Miami, Fla., who Stewart-Smith discovered at a college showcase.
“I thought it was better opportunity for me to come to a school like this for academics than a non-academic school in Florida,” Saintlouis said. “We’re starting over with young guys, mostly freshmen and sophomores. We’re still growing as a team.”
Graytok said he came to W&J because he felt a connection with the coaching staff and players.
“I’ve been on some pretty veteran teams so I’m going to try to lead these young guys,” he said. “I think we’re playing hard and playing strong. We just have to keep building and get ready for (conference) games. I think we need to get better each game. We have everyone back next year. We can make a run in the PAC. I think we’re good enough to do that.”
Bob Ghiloni is in his 14th season as head coach at Denison and knows how difficult it is to rebuild.
“Check my early years. I’ve done that,” Ghiloni said with a smile. “We’re at the point now where we have been .500 the past few years. We’re not satisfied but it takes time to do it. You have to build a winning culture. There hasn’t been one there, not consistently. We have to get the kids to sacrifice. I don’t consider sacrifice not going home for Christmas break. That’s what every college player is doing. Or lifting weights at 6 a.m., because everybody does that stuff. Sacrifice is giving up a good shot for a great shot. We had some of that tonight. Sacrifice is sitting on the bench and cheering for the guy who took your job. If kids understand that, you have a chance.”
Jeff Speelman led Denison (1-0) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Darius White scored 16 and David Meurer 15. … Kodie Hanley, a graduate of Chartiers-Houston, had five rebounds and three blocks for Washington & Jefferson. … Denison held a 35-25 lead at halftime.