Winston Smith completed his fourth season on the Seahawk bench in 2020-21.
He helped lead the Seahawks to a 13-7 overall record and 13-5 mark in Northeast Conference (NEC) play in 2020-21, as Wagner earned regular season championship and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
In his first season with the program in 2017-18, Smith helped lead the Seahawks to a 23-10 overall record, highlighted by an NEC regular season title, which came by virtue of a 14-4 league mark. With Smith’s assistance, Wagner reached the 2018 NEC Title game and made an appearance in the postseason NIT.
Smith, who boasts more than 15 years of coaching experience, came to Wagner after spending the previous two seasons in his second tour of duty at fellow Northeast Conference (NEC) member, Fairleigh Dickinson. In 2015-16, he helped guide the Knights to a ten-win improvement, an NEC championship (claiming the 2016 crown over Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center), which resulted in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005.
Prior to his second stint in Hackensack, Smith spent eight seasons on staff at Drexel, where he served as the Dragons’ coordinator of basketball operations. Under then head coach Bruiser Flint, he was responsible for all aspects of Drexel's basketball operations.
On the sidelines, he helped lead Drexel to a 29-7 record during the 2011-12 season, highlighted by a 19-game winning streak, as the Dragons reached the third round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The 29 wins are the highest total in the history of the program.
No stranger to the NEC, Smith spent two seasons in Loretto, PA as a member of Saint Francis U staff from 2006-to-2008 before spending a season in Hempstead, NY as a member of the Hofstra University women’s basketball staff, serving as their assistant coach for the 2005-06 campaign.
During that season, Smith helped guide Hofstra to a 19-12 record, which qualified the Pride for the 2006 WNIT, where they defeated Stony Brook, 92-65 in the opening round before falling to Villanova in the Second Round.
Before arriving on Long Island, Smith spent two seasons at Youngstown State, where he was an assistant men's coach. In 2004-05, he worked alongside current Wagner associate head coach, Mike Babul, who was also an assistant coach for the Penguins.
Smith began his coaching career at Fairleigh Dickinson, working under NEC Hall of Famer Tom Green, serving as the Knights' assistant director of basketball operations (2001-02), before being promoted to an assistant coach for the 2002-03 campaign. Smith also served as the director of the FDU Basketball Camps.
A native of Summit, NJ, Smith played his collegiate ball for Coach Flint at UMass from 1996-2001, where he was also teammates with Coach Babul. In 2000-01, Smith served as team captain for the Minutemen. During his UMass playing career, Smith also earned the team's Top Defender and Mr. Hustle Awards in 1997 (freshman year), and 2001 (senior season), respectively.
He was also a two-time selection to the Student-Athlete Academic Council. While in Amherst, the Minutemen made three post-season appearances with Smith on the squad, which included a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament.
A former scholastic standout at The Patrick School in Elizabeth, NJ, where he was an All-State player for the Celtics' renowned basketball team, Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UMass as a sociology major in 2001.
Smith and his wife, Allison Levy Smith, married on August 15, 2015 and welcomed their son, Brandon, in March of 2020. The Smith's reside in Summit, New Jersey.
