Jess Smith joined the Haverford College women’s basketball coaching staff in 2025 after a standout playing career at Bryn Mawr College and professional experience in academic support and community engagement within collegiate athletics.
Smith comes to Haverford from Villanova University, where she served as an Academic Support & UNITAS Intern with Villanova Athletics. In that role, she worked closely with student-athletes on their academic and athletic development and contributed to UNITAS, an initiative focused on fostering inclusion, belonging, and holistic growth within the athletic community. She has also been involved in the wider basketball world, organizing clinics with the WNBA’s Dallas Wings and coaching youth sports in Northern California.
A 2025 graduate of Bryn Mawr, Smith left her mark as one of the most decorated players in program history. She became the third-fastest player in school history to reach 1,000 career points, doing so in just 66 games, and was a two-time All-Centennial Conference Second Team selection. In 2024–25, she was also named Second Team All-Area by City of Basketball Love, recognizing her among the top Division III players in the Philadelphia region.
Her individual honors include three Centennial Conference Player of the Week awards, four straight Bryn Mawr Basketball Most Outstanding Player awards, and Tournament MVP honors at the 2024 Gryphon Invitational. She was also part of the Owls’ squad that set a program scoring record with 83 points against the University of Valley Forge during the 2023–24 season.
In addition to her athletic achievements, Smith was deeply involved in campus life. She 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. Her leadership was recognized with the Jenepher P. Shillingford Award and the Challenge Accepted Award from the Bryn Mawr Department of Athletics. She also represented the Owls at the NCAA Career in Sports Forum.
