HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford College Women's Basketball Head Coach
Grace Elliott has announced the hiring of
Jess Smith as an Assistant Coach for the program. Smith joins the program with a background in collegiate athletics, community engagement, and leadership within the Bi-Co as a recent alumna of Bryn Mawr College.
Smith currently serves as an Academic Support & UNITAS Intern with Villanova University Athletics, where she works closely with student-athletes on both their academic and athletic development. In addition to her academic support responsibilities, she contributes to UNITAS, Villanova's initiative dedicated to fostering community, culture, and engagement. These initiatives provide programming and educational opportunities for student-athletes, coaches, staff, administrators, and the broader Villanova community, with an emphasis on inclusion, belonging, and holistic development within athletics.
Smith has also been active in the broader basketball community, organizing clinics with the WNBA's Dallas Wings and coaching youth sports in Northern California.
A 2025 graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Smith was a standout player in the Centennial Conference and a leader across multiple areas of campus life for the Owls. She was a two-time All-Centennial Second Team selection and reached 1,000 career points in just 66 games, the third-fastest pace in Bryn Mawr program history.
In 2024–25, she was named Second Team All-Area by City of Basketball Love (COBL), which recognizes top performers from Division III women's basketball programs across the Philadelphia region.
Smith earned numerous individual honors during her career, including three Centennial Conference Player of the Week awards, four consecutive Bryn Mawr Basketball Most Outstanding Player awards, and Tournament MVP at the 2024 Gryphon Invitational.
She was also part of the Bryn Mawr squad that set a program scoring record with 83 points against the University of Valley Forge during the 2023–24 season. Her contributions were further recognized with the Jenepher P. Shillingford Award and the Challenge Accepted Award from the Bryn Mawr Department of Athletics during her senior year.
In addition to her athletic achievements, Smith served as team captain, co-president of the Bryn Mawr Athletic Alliance, and head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Through these roles, she played a visible part in strengthening the student-athlete experience within the Bryn Mawr community. She also attended the NCAA Career in Sports Forum as the Owls' representative, connecting with student-athletes and professionals in the sports industry.
