Jay Smith joined the Men’s Basketball staff in Fall 2023. He is a native of Detroit, MI and adds an
abundance of experience across multiple levels of college basketball to the program.
Smith spent five seasons as an Assistant Coach at Reinhardt University, where helped the
team to a conference championship appearance, an NAIA National Tournament appearance,
and national rankings of #8 in defense and #3 in steals.
Prior to his time at Reinhardt, Smith served as the Head Coach for Fisk University in Nashville,
TN for three seasons. During his tenure at Fisk, he recruited and coached five NAIA Academic All-
Americans, two NAIA All-Americans, one Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and the
GCAC Freshman of the Year. Smith also led the Bulldogs to a #2 defensive ranking nationwide,
with #13 Xavier University (New Orleans, LA) and #22 Martin Methodist College (Pulaski, TN).
He was the first coach in program history to win a GCAC Tournament game and finished the
season with a then-program record 16 wins.
He also made several coaching stops in his career both at the high school and college level,
taking on roles at a variety of Detroit Public Schools, Schoolcraft College, Wayne County
Community College and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Smith graduated from Jordan College in Detroit, where he played basketball and earned his
Bachelor’s of Science in Sport Management. He is also a 2018 graduate of Columbia University
in NY.
