One of college basketball’s prominent young coaches, Jesse Pruitt begins his fourth season as an assistant coach at Stanford in 2019-20.
During his tenure on The Farm, the Cardinal has produced 48 victories overall, recorded its best conference finish and most league wins in a decade and earned a postseason berth for the first time in three years.
Stanford won 19 games overall and returned to the postseason for the first time in three years in 2017-18, reaching the second round of the NIT. The Cardinal also finished third in the Pac-12 standings and won 11 conference games, representing its best finish and most conference wins in 10 years.
A California native with strong national ties, Pruitt has been instrumental in the recruitment and development of a Stanford roster that increased its win total by five games from year one to year two, earned a postseason berth and produced several all-conference standouts. Pruitt has helped bring in consecutive top-25 recruiting classes, including a four-member group that was rated as high as eighth in the 2017 class rankings.
Stanford’s 2017-18 squad posted its highest scoring average (75.9 ppg) in 16 years, best field goal percentage (.461) in 14 years and collected the fourth-most rebounds (1,368) in a season in school history. The Cardinal led the Pac-12 in rebounding at 39.1 rpg.
Forward Reid Travis was a two-time First Team All-Pac-12 selection and NABC All-District honoree while Dorian Pickens collected all-conference honors and was named the 2018 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior. Pruitt played an important role in the development of the Cardinal’s standout four-member freshman class that collectively averaged 25.0 minutes per game and started 86 contests in 2017-18.
A native of Pomona, California, Pruitt has lived in the Bay Area the last 10 years. Prior to his arrival on The Farm, he served eight seasons on the staff at Santa Clara under Kerry Keating, including four seasons as an assistant coach for the Broncos. He helped lead Santa Clara to the 2013 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) postseason tournament title and the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Championship.
Pruitt, who oversaw Santa Clara’s recruiting and scouting efforts, along with his responsibilities as a coach, helped develop several All-West Coast Conference selections. The Broncos placed an individual on the conference’s all-freshman team three consecutive seasons in Jared Brownridge (2013-14), Matt Hubbard (2014-15) and KJ Feagin (2015-16). During Pruitt’s time at Santa Clara, Brownridge was a two-time first-team All-WCC performer (three-time first-team selection overall) and the 2014 WCC Newcomer of the Year.
Pruitt helped lead the Broncos to the 2013 CBI title in his first season as an assistant coach. Santa Clara won 26 games and posted 21 regular season victories for the first time in nearly 20 years. Pruitt was essential to the Broncos’ run, helping coach first-team All-WCC selections Marc Trasolini and Kevin Foster. Foster became Santa Clara’s all-time leading scorer and the second-leading scorer in WCC history.
Santa Clara was successful in the classroom as well during Pruitt's tenure on the staff, with at least one player earning a spot on the WCC All-Academic team in seven of the eight seasons with the program. All 19 players who reached their senior season earned degrees and the men’s basketball program had a 100 percent graduation rate during Pruitt’s time on the staff.
Prior to joining the coaching staff, Pruitt served as Santa Clara’s Director of Basketball Operations for three years from 2008-10. He began his tenure as the Bronco’s video coordinator in 2008-09.
Before joining Santa Clara, Pruitt was an assistant at Division II powerhouse Cal Poly Pomona under Greg Kamansky from 2006-08. There, Pruitt was instrumental in the recruiting efforts that led to back-to-back national title game appearances (2009 and 2010) and a national championship in 2010.
Pruitt graduated from UC Davis in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. He was a member of the Aggies’ men’s basketball team for two seasons under former UC Davis head coach Brian Fogel. At UC Davis, he played alongside current UAB head coach Robert Ehsan.
Pruitt married the former Mary Jo Alexander on Oct. 2, 2010 at Stanford Memorial Church. His wife was an All-American runner at UC Davis and was an assistant coach with the Stanford track and field and cross country teams. She is currently the Athletic Director at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California. They have three children, Gisele Brin, Paige Elizabeth and Trae Robinson.