SUNY New Paltz Athletics

Alma Mater: Siena College '01
Season as Head Coach: 17th (including 2022-23)
Record at New Paltz:  330-140 (.702)
SUNYAC Tournament Appearances: 16
SUNYAC Championships: 7 (2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024)
SUNYAC Coach of the Year: 4 (2013, 2019, 2023, 2024)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 8 (2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)
D3hoops.com All-Region Coach of the Year: 1 (2019)
Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year: 1 (2013)

Coach Jamie Seward completed his 17th season following the Hawks' 2023-24 campaign where they earned their seventh SUNYAC Championship title (all under Seward). The team collected their third 25-plus win season, as they finished 25-4 overall, earning a first round NCAA win over Penn State-Harrisburg. Seward also earned his fourth career SUNYAC Coach of the Year honor and guided three All-SUNYAC selections, including reigning SUNYAC Player of the Year Brianna Fitzgerald who became the first two-time recipient in program history. Additionally, Fitzgerald became the teams first Region III Player of the Year honoree and two-time All-America selection. 

The 2022-23 season marked Seward's 16th season as the head coach of the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball program. He guided the team to its first ever 18-0 SUNYAC regular season and eclipsed the 300-win threshold while getting his team to another SUNYAC finals and NCAA Tournament appearance with an at-large bid in 2023. 

During his tenure, Seward has cemented a tradition of winning that is unprecedented in the history of Hawk women’s basketball. Seward compiled a 17-11 record his first year at the helm and achieved marks above .500 in each of his subsequent six campaigns.

In his most recent season at the helm, the Hawks finished with a record of 20-7 overall — their third-straight 20-win season — and won their third straight SUNYAC title, and fifth in six years, earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time. He had three players named to the All-SUNYAC team, including the program's first SUNYAC Rookie of the Year in Brianna Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald went on to become the program's first ever Region Rookie of the Year after she earned D3Hoop.com Region III Rookie of the Year honors. 

The Hawks matched the previous year's win total during the 2019-20 season after finishing 25-4 overall, marking the first time ever the program had back-to-back 25-win seasons — the most ever. Additionally, the team went 17-1 in SUNYAC play, earning the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament and ultimately defeated Buffalo State and then SUNY Cortland to claim back-to-back SUNYAC titles, which was the program's fifth overall conference championship, and fourth in five years. The team went on to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, defeating Husson University in the first round of the playoffs to advance to the second round where they fell to Smith College.  

The team had three All-SUNYAC selections in seniors Maddie Van Pelt, Marion Dietz and Paige Niemeyer with Van Pelt earning Second-Team All-East Region and All-America Honorable Mention honors. 

The 2018-19 season was at the time the winningest in program history, as SUNY New Paltz finished with an unprecedented 25-5 overall record and a program-best 17-1 SUNYAC mark. The Hawks earned the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament, ultimately defeating defending champions SUNY Geneseo in overtime to clinch the program's third conference title in four years. The team went on to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, defeating Rutgers-Newark and Emmanuel College to secure a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons. 

Following the successful 2018-19 run, senior guard Lindsay Bettke became the program's first SUNYAC Player of the Year, and team's first out-right All-American, while Seward earned SUNYAC and All-Region Coach of the Year honors. 

The 2016-17 season was also a special year for the Hawks as the program captured its second-straight SUNYAC crown and advanced to the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen, earning wins over Ithaca and Bowdoin in the process - the first NCAA victories in the history of the team.

In addition, he is the only coach in program history to achieve at least 100 wins, as Seward eclipsed the 100-win mark on Feb. 4, 2012, at The College at Brockport. Seward led the Hawks to their first-ever State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title in 2013 and, subsequently, their first NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament appearance.

On his career, he is 236-120 overall and has mentored 10 All-SUNYAC players, including the SUNYAC Rookie of the Year in 2008 and SUNYAC Player of the Year in 2019. The Hawks have appeared in the SUNYAC Women's Basketball Tournament in 11 of 12 seasons under Seward’s watch, winning their first title in 2012-13. Seward won his first SUNYAC Coach of the Year award in 2012-13, as well as the 2013 Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year award, which made him an automatic finalist for National Coach of the Year.

The Hawk Center has been friendly to New Paltz since its opening in 2006. Seward, whose career at the College began in the first year of the facility's operation, has guided the program to a 89-24 mark on the Hawk Center hardwood, which works out to an .788 winning percentage.

The 2015-16 campaign saw the Hawks repeat their 2012-13 success as New Paltz (21-7, 14-4 SUNYAC) clinched its second SUNYAC title and made its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Juniors Kit Small and Courtney Irby were named to the All-SUNYAC First and Second Teams, respectively, while senior Goldie Harrison was named the SUNYAC Tournament MVP. 

New Paltz enjoyed a 12-win improvement from 2013-14 to 2014-15, as the Hawks finished the 2014-15 campaign at 18-9 overall (13-5 SUNYAC). Kit Small and Shannan Walker each were honored with All-SUNYAC recognition following the conclusion of the season, and the Hawks continued their winning ways at home, going 11-1 at the Hawk Center.

2012-13 was a magical year for the Hawks, who won their first SUNYAC Championship and made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. A 24-4 overall record set a new program record, as well as a 16-2 SUNYAC record. The Hawks also set a program record by opening their season with an unprecedented 15-game winning streak. Seniors Alex McCullough and Maliqua Fisher were named to the All-SUNYAC First and Second Teams, respectively, and Fisher was dubbed SUNYAC Tournament MVP.

2011-12 marked the sixth straight year that New Paltz made the SUNYAC Tournament, as the Hawks went 18-9 (15-3 SUNYAC). Three players were cited on the three All-SUNYAC teams.

Success continued for the Hawks in 2010-11, as New Paltz went undefeated in the Hawk Center in SUNYAC play. The blue and orange secured the No. 3 seed in the 2011 SUNYAC Tournament, downing SUNY Oswego in the quarterfinals before succumbing to SUNY Oneonta in the semifinals.

During the 2009-10 season, the Hawks achieved a pivotal milestone when they reached the SUNYAC championship game for the first time in program history. The team assembled a record of 18-10 and boasted a 13-5 mark in conference, earning the No. 3 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. After winning a quadruple-overtime thriller against the No. 2 seed, Oneonta, in the semifinals, Seward’s squad punched its ticket to the championship bout. 

The 2008-09 campaign was a banner year for the program, as it won a record 13 games in SUNYAC play and went 17-8 overall. Seward’s team gained two All-SUNYAC selections for the second straight year and qualified for the conference tournament for the third time in as many seasons. The 2007-08 campaign saw the Hawks go 19-8, which serves as the program-record total for wins in a single season. New Paltz landed multiple All-Conference honorees after the Hawks jumped from a 10-6 record in conference to a 12-4 mark in 2007-08. 

New Paltz went 17-11 in 2006-07, which included a miracle comeback victory against SUNY Geneseo on Feb. 20, 2007. The Hawks trailed by 12 with 43 seconds remaining in regulation and wound up tying the score at 71 with five ticks left on the clock. New Paltz would then prevail, 85-77, in overtime for the improbable triumph. 

Prior to New Paltz, Seward spent five seasons as the assistant women’s basketball coach to Mary Ellen Burt at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. During the five-year period, Union compiled an overall record of 98-38. This was the most successful five-year run in the history of the Union Dutchwoman program. 

Before coaching at Union, he spent two years as the head coach of the Northern Lites 17-and-under national AAU team. He coached the open women’s basketball team at the Empire State Games for five years (2004-08), which culminated in a gold-medal performance in 2008. He founded and directs the Real School of Basketball for boys and girls ages 8 to 15 in Amsterdam, N.Y. 

Seward has also been on the staffs for the Union, Siena, and the Fulton-Montgomery Community College basketball camps. He was the head coach of Amsterdam High School’s freshman girls’ team as well as an assistant for the varsity squad. 

In 2005, he was an assistant on the Union women’s lacrosse staff, helping lead the team to the Liberty League title and the NCAA tournament. 

Seward earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Siena College in 2001. 

Contact Jamie Seward at ext. 3923 or sewardj@newpaltz.edu. 

*Denotes SUNYAC Coach of the Year
^Denotes D3hoops.com All-Region Coach of the Year 
#Denotes Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year