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Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson

21 Years •  Career Record: 406-202 • 8 PSAC East regular season titles • 3 PSAC Titles •  7 NCAA Playoff appearances

Jeff Wilson has turned East Stroudsburg University's men's basketball into one of the premier programs in the PSAC, along with the Atlantic region over the past three decades. Wilson enters his 22nd season as the head coach of the Warriors during the 2024-25 campaign. Wilson is ESU's all-time wins leader and ranks fifth all-time in the PSAC in victories. 

In the 2023-24 season, Wilson guided ESU to a 25-5 record and a PSAC Regular-Season Co-Championship, recording the third-most wins in program history. The high-octane Warrior offense averaged 90.7 points per game, ranking as the second-best in program history, only behind the 2017-18 season (92.0 ppg). This output ranked second in the PSAC and fifth in the country. ESU surpassed 100 points in 10 games this season, tying the program record set in 2017-18. The Warriors recorded a postseason-best 116 points at Koehler Fieldhouse in the PSAC First Round matchup against Mansfield. ESU's defense was tenacious, ranking fifth in NCAA DII in turnovers forced (19.7) and steals per game (10.7), eighth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.6%), and 14th in turnover margin (4.0). Wilson recorded his 400th career victory against Shepherd on February 3rd, becoming just the fifth PSAC coach to reach the mark. Lakeem McAliley became just the fifth Warrior to earn All-PSAC East honors in three seasons, leading ESU in scoring (17.3 ppg), field goal percentage (.563), rebounding (5.9), and blocks (22), and ranked second in steals (2.2). McAliley was recognized on the D2CAA All-Region Second Team and NABC All-District Second Team. Joining McAliley on the all-conference team were All-PSAC East Second Team selections Justin Paz and Jaelen McGlone. Paz ranked third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio, while McGlone's 66 steals ranked ninth in NCAA Division II.

The Warriors returned to the NCAA Tournament during Wilson's 20th season in 2022-23, with the Warriors compiling a 23-9 overall record. It was the ninth season that Wilson has recorded at least 20 wins. ESU was led by All-PSAC East First Team selections Carlos Pepin and Lakeem McAliley. Along with the all-conference nod, Pepin was named to the NABC All-District First Team, the  D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Second Team, the NABC Reese's Division II All-Star Game and represented ESU, and all non-Division I men's basketball players at the King's Hawiaan College Dunk Contest on ESPN at the site of the NCAA Division I Final Four. After a 14-1 start, ESU moved up to No. 14 in the NABC Coaches Poll. 

ESU posted a 19-8 overall record including a 17-5 mark against PSAC squads during the 2021-22 season, following the COVID canceled 2020-21 season. Led by PSAC East Athlete of the Year Carlos Pepin and All-PSAC East Second Team selection Lakeem McAliley, the Warriors closed the regular season by winning seven of its final eight meetings and clinched a share of the PSAC East regular season title and a first round bye in the PSAC Tournament in the process. Pepin became the third Warrior to earn PSAC Athlete of the Year honors under Wilson, joining Matt Tobin (2015) and Whis Grant (2013). 

Wilson guided the Warriors to their third-straight 20-win season in 2019-20, as they finished at 20-9 overall and 15-7 in conference play while placing second in the PSAC East. ESU earned a conference tournament bid for the 11th straight season, and finished in the top-three in the PSAC East standings for the eighth consecutive year. The Warriors posted a 10-game win streak spanning January 29 to March 4, which marked the 15th double-digit win streak in program history. Wilson's relentless full-court press defense continued to give opponents fits, as the Warriors ranked ninth nationally in steals per game (9.5) and turnovers forced (17.4), while also ranking 15th in turnover margin (+3.5). He picked up his 350th win on the road against Shepherd on January 6th. 

During the 2019-20 campaign, the Warriors reached 20 wins for the fifth time over the past seven seasons, winning its final nine contests of the regular season. The Warriors bowed out to eventual PSAC Champion IUP in the PSAC Semifinal round. Kit Najee Walls earned All-PSAC East Second Team honors. 

ESU returned to the NCAA Division II tournament in 2018-19, posting a 21-8 record and finishing atop the PSAC East regular season standings with a conference mark of 17-3. The Warriors received three of the East division’s four major awards, as Ryan Smith was named Freshman of the Year, Jakwan Jones was honored as Defensive Athlete of the Year and Wilson took home his fourth Coach of the Year honor in a span of 10 seasons.

Wilson reached the 300 career win plateau on November 20, 2018 in a victory at Felician. He has 339 wins overall in his head coaching career, placing him seventh all-time in PSAC history.

Wilson was also honored as the division’s top coach in 2017-18, as ESU claimed its third PSAC title in seven years and its first-ever NCAA Division II Atlantic Region championship. That sent the Warriors to the Elite Eight, where they were edged 79-71 by Northern State in Sioux Falls, S.D.

ESU won 13-straight games from Feb. 3 – March 13, capped by an 84-72 win over Shippensburg in the Atlantic Region title game. Ten Warriors played significant minutes, contributing to a team which ranked first nationally in steals per game (11.5), third in assists per game (19.8) and fourth in scoring offense (92.0 ppg). ESU’s 27-6 final record included the second most wins in school history.

Wilson, an assistant coach on ESU's 1990 PSAC championship team, has returned the Warriors to a position of prominence since he was named head coach in 2002-03, leading ESU to 11 straight PSAC Tournament appearances (including six straight Final Four trips from 2010-15) and six NCAA Tournament appearances (2010, 2012-14, 2018-19) since the start of the 2009-10 season.

Wilson was named the NCAA Division II Coach of the Year by the Basketball Times and CollegeInsider.com and the NABC DII Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 2014 after leading the Warriors to their most wins in school history (30-2), a second PSAC title in three years and a trip to the Atlantic Region championship game. He was also named the region's top coach in 2010.

Wilson, a 1986 graduate of ESU, has been a member of the ESU men's basketball program for 32 of the last 39 years - three as a player, 10 as an assistant coach and the last 20 as head coach. He was an assistant coach from 1986-95 and returned as head coach in 2002.

He spent the interim years under his mentor, Sal Mentesana, as the associate head coach at Lehigh University, of the Division I Patriot League. Wilson assisted Metensana for nine years at ESU and was the top assistant coach on the 1990 team which won the first PSAC championship and made the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The squad was inducted to the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 and Mentesana was inducted in 2011.

Since returning as head coach, Wilson has a career record of 339-180, breaking the school record for wins (215) previously held by Ken Sisson (1963-78, 79-83). The Warriors have posted at least 16 wins in each of the last 15 seasons and have 306 victories in that span, including eight 20-win seasons.

Individual accomplishments during Wilson’s tenure include 33 All-PSAC selections. The Warriors have had an all-conference player in each of the last 16 years – Kitt Najee Walls in 2020; Josh Williams, Jakwan Jones and Ryan Smith in 2019; Steve Harris and Jones in 2018; Rasheed Moore in 2017; Moore, Jamal Nwaniemeka and Will Brown in 2016; Whis Grant, Matt Tobin and Moore in 2014 and 2015; Grant, Terrance King and Duane Johnson in 2013; Johnson, King and Russell Graham III in 2012; Johnson and Mike Tobin in 2011; Andy Heimbach and Robby Pines in 2010; Chris Bach in 2009; Bach and Channon Easley in 2008; Darron Bradley in 2007; Danny Hargrove in 2006; Anthony Ross in 2005 and Rich Baker in 2004. Bach was also the first Academic All-American in program history in 2009.

Wilson also served on the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Atlantic Region Advisory Committee for eight years and was appointed to a two-year stint as the chair of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee prior to the 2016-17 season.

Wilson earned his master's degree in health and physical education from ESU in 1992.

Jeff Wilson By the Numbers
  • 406-202 record (.667) in 21 seasons -- set ESU record for wins in 2014-15
  • Overall: 233-71 home record (.766) -- and 123-54 (.694) in PSAC games
  • Since 2009-10: 167-36 home record (.822) -- and 114-30 in PSAC games
  • 2014 Basketball Times and CollegeInsider.com DII Coach of the Year
  • 2-time NABC Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (2010, 2014)
  • 4-time PSAC East Coach of the Year (2010, 2013, 2018, 2019)
  • 2012, 2014, 2018 PSAC championships (2nd, 3rd and 4th in school history)
  • 8 PSAC East regular season titles (2010, 2013-15, 2018-19, 2022, 2024)
  • assistant coach on 1990 PSAC championship team
  • 7 NCAA Tournament appearances (2010, 2012-14, 2018-19, 2023)
  • #2 national ranking on March 4 and March 11, 2014 (highest in school history)
  • #2 national ranking in final NABC poll of 2013-14
  • Top 10 ranking for 11 straight weeks in 2013-14
  • #9 national ranking on February 12, 2013 (previous best) after 19-2 start
  • 17 PSAC playoff appearances in 18 seasons (2006-08, 10-20, 2022-24)
  • 26 All-PSAC players since 2002 (40 combined selections)
  • 2 All-Americans (Whis Grant, 2013-15 and Matt Tobin, 2015)
  • 6 All-Region selections (Grant, 2013-15; Tobin, 2015; Rasheed Moore, 2017; Josh Williams, 2019; Pepin, 2023; McAliley, 2024)
  • 3 PSAC East Athletes of the Year (Grant, 2013; Tobin, 2015; Pepin 2022)
  • 3 PSAC East Freshmen of the Year (Terrance King, 2010, Moore, 2014, and Ryan Smith, 2019)
  • 1 PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year (Jakwan Jones, 2019)
  • 1 4-time All-PSAC East selection (Moore, 2014-17 - first in school history)
  • recruited or coached 24 of the 35 1,000-point scorers in ESU history
2023-24 – 25-5
  • 3rd most wins in a single season in program history
  • PSAC East Regular Season Co-Champions (8th in 14 seasons)
  • 10th 20-win season under Wilson, 15th in program history
  • 5th season over the past six seasons reaching 20-plus wins
  • broke school record with 11 consecutive road wins
2022-23 – 23-9
  • Returned to the NCAA Tournament 
  • 4th 20-win season in 5 years
  • PSAC Final Four
  • Began season 8-0 and 14-1 overall
2021-22 – 19-8
  • PSAC East Regular Season Co-Champions (7th in 12 seasons)
  • 16th-straight season with at least 16 wins
2019-20 – 20-9
  • PSAC Final 4 (9th in 11 years)
  • 15th-straight season with at least 16 wins
  • 3rd-straight 20-plus win season
2018-19 – 21-8
  • Advanced to NCAA DII Tournament for 6th time in 10 years
  • PSAC Final 4 (8th in 10 years)
  • PSAC East regular season title (6th in 10 years)
2017-18 – 27-6
  • Atlantic Region championship (1st in program history)
  • PSAC championship (3rd in last 7 years)
  • PSAC East regular season title (5th in 9 years)
  • Advanced to NCAA DII Elite Eight
2016-17 - 18-11
  • PSAC quarterfinals (8th straight PSAC Tournament appearance)
  • 6 of 11 losses vs. nationally-ranked teams (6 ranked opponents - most in school history)
2015-16 - 21-7
  • PSAC quarterfinals
  • won 20 games for 5th time in 7 years
2014-15 - 19-10
  • PSAC East regular season title
  • became first PSAC East school to win 3 straight divisional titles since 1985-87 (Millersville)
  • first to win 3 straight outright divisional titles since 1976-80 (Cheyney)
  • PSAC Final 4 for 6th straight year
2013-14 - 30-2
  • school record for wins
  • PSAC championship
  • hosted NCAA DII Atlantic Regional as top seed
  • advanced to regional final and NCAA DII "Sweet 16"
  • advanced to NCAA DII Tournament for 4th time in 5 years
  • #2 in final NABC poll
  • PSAC East regular season title (3rd in 5 years)
  • PSAC Final 4 for 5th straight year
  • 20-0 start (best in PSAC since 1994-95 and best in school history)
2012-13 - 22-7
  • advanced to NCAA DII Tournament for 3rd time in 4 years
  • PSAC East regular season title
  • PSAC Final 4 for 4th straight year
2011-12 - 20-12
  • PSAC champion
  • advanced to NCAA DII Tournament for 2nd time in 3 years
  • PSAC Final 4 for 3rd straight year
2010-11 - 16-12
  • PSAC Final 4 for 2nd straight year
2009-10 - 24-6
  • previous school record for wins
  • advanced to NCAA DII Tournament for 2nd time in school history (also 1990)
  • PSAC East regular season title
  • PSAC Final 4 for first time since 1992
  • record starts of 13-0 and 19-1 (surpassed in 2013-14)
Career Wins, PSAC Coaches (victories compiled while at PSAC school) (entering 2024-25)
Coach School Years Wins
1. Charles Chronister Bloomsburg 1972-2002 559
2. Joe Lombardi    IUP 2006- 416
3. Greg Walcavich Edinboro 1990-2012 412
4. Jeff Wilson East Stroudsburg 2002- 406
5. Ron Righter Clarion 1989-2014 402
6. Dick Delaney West Chester 1987-2008 370
7. Bill Brown California 1996-2016 365
8. Bernie Driscoll Kutztown 2000- 358
9. Rodger Goodling Shippensburg 1971-2001 356
10. Dick DeHart Millersville 1956-82 321

Active Coaches in bold