Contact Coach Wilson
E-mail: jwilson@po-box.esu.edu
Phone: (570) 422-3339

Jeff Wilson, a 1986 graduate of East Stroudsburg University and an assistant coach from 1986-95, is in his eighth season as the head coach at his alma mater.

Wilson guided the Warriors to three straight appearances in the PSAC playoffs from 2006-08 for the first time in more than a decade, and was within a game of the postseason a year ago.

The Warriors have posted at least 16 wins in each of the last four seasons, the first time in 82 years of varsity basketball that the school has accomplished that feat. Their 68 wins over the four-year span are the most since ESU won 75 games with Wilson on the bench as an assistant coach in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

The 2007-08 season included a 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in school history behind a 14-game streak nearly 70 years ago during the 1940-41 season. The Warriors’ run included a sweep of the PSAC West for the first time in school history, and ESU is 16-2 against the conference’s western division over the last three years - including a 52-49 win at No. 4 Gannon on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Aaron Pinckney in 2008-09.

The 2006-07 and 2007-08 teams both went 18-10 and followed up a 16-12 campaign in 2005-06, as ESU turned the corner into an annual contender in the PSAC.

Wilson returned to the Warriors in 2002 after spending six seasons as associate head coach at Lehigh University, which competes in the Division I Patriot League.

ESU averaged 6.5 wins per season in the four years prior to Wilson’s arrival. The Warriors posted an 8-18 record in his first year and have steadily improved ever since thanks to an aggressive, 94-foot style of basketball that has been a trademark of Wilson’s teams.

The Warriors have been at or near the top of the PSAC in scoring offense, field goal defense and turnovers created over the past seven years. ESU led the 16-school conference by creating 18.1 turnovers per game last season. In 2007-08, ESU ranked in the top four in the conference in nine of 17 categories, including three-point percentage defense (1st), field goal percentage defense (2nd), assists (2nd), scoring defense (3rd), steals (3rd), blocked shots (3rd) and scoring margin (3rd).

Individual accomplishments during Wilson’s tenure include six All-PSAC selections. The Warriors have had an all-conference player in each of the last six years, including a two-time selection in forward Chris Bach, who was on the first team in 2008-09 and the second team in 2007-08. Bach was also an Academic All-American and the ESU Senior Athlete and Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2009.

Danny Hargrove was named to the first team in 2005-06, and Rich Baker (2003-04), Anthony Ross (2004-05), Darron Bradley (2006-07) and Channon Easley (2008-09) were all members of the second team.

Wilson has built the program with strong recruiting classes and has also played a challenging preseason schedule which has included Division I opponents Bucknell, Lehigh, Penn State and Temple. Several assistant coaches under Wilson have moved on to Division I programs as well, including Drew Dawson (2003-04) who is an assistant coach at Hartford, and William Faulkner (2004-05) who was an assistant at Jacksonville University.

Wilson has been a member of the ESU men’s basketball program for 21 of the last 27 years, dating to his career as a player from 1982-86. He joined the coaching staff the next season and was the top assistant coach on the Warriors’ only PSAC championship team in 1989-90, which was inducted into the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007.