George Mason University men’s basketball head coach Tony Skinn (’06) announced Friday that Jesse Pruitt will join his staff as assistant coach and director of basketball operations.
Pruitt comes to Fairfax from San Luis Obipso, Calif., where he served as assistant coach/general manager at Cal Poly over the past two seasons.
“Jesse has one of those personalities that you want to immediately instill into your program culture,” Skinn said. “He’s talented and has an excellent knowledge of the operational side and the basketball side of a program. His experience on the West Coast is going to help bring a fresh perspective and some new ideas to our staff. We’re excited to have him on board.”
In 2024-25, Pruitt helped lead the Mustangs to the Big West Championship semifinals for the first time in 11 years while Cal Poly’s 12-win improvement marked the fourth most successful turnaround in Division I. Offensively, Cal Poly finished third among 355 NCAA Division I programs with 11.5 three-pointers per game and 19th with 82.1 points per game while setting new program single season records for total points, three-pointers and field goals.
Alongside coaching responsibilities, Pruitt – in his general manager role – worked as Cal Poly’s primary contact for Name, Image and Likeness initiatives, refined the Cal Poly Players’ Trust and spearheaded community relations endeavors.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Coach Tony Skinn and the outstanding staff he’s assembled at George Mason,” Pruitt said. “George Mason has a proud basketball tradition and I value the opportunity to work alongside people who are deeply committed to building a championship program while mentoring student-athletes who share that same competitive drive. My family and I are looking forward to building relationships in this community and doing everything we can to help this program and university continue to thrive.”
Prior to Cal Poly, Pruitt spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford (2016–24), helping the Cardinal to 126 victories while recruiting and developing nationally recognized talent. During his tenure, Stanford signed multiple top-20 nationally ranked recruiting classes, including McDonald’s All-Americans Ziaire Williams, Harrison Ingram and Andrej Stojakovic. Pruitt also helped recruit and coach six future NBA players: Kezie Okpala, Tyrell Terry, Ziaire Williams, Spencer Jones, Harrison Ingram and Maxime Raynaud. His teams produced 13 All-Pac-12 selections and five Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honorees.
Off the court, Pruitt helped build one of the nation’s premier academic cultures. Stanford earned 43 Pac-12 All-Academic Team selections, five Academic All-Americans and five Pac-12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year during his eight seasons. One of the program’s signature campaigns came in 2019-20 when the Cardinal finished 20-12 and was widely projected to earn an NCAA Tournament berth before the postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stanford ranked 16th nationally in scoring defense, posted its highest field-goal percentage in 16 years and capped the season by signing another top-10 nationally ranked recruiting class.
A native of Pomona, Calif., Pruitt worked eight seasons at Santa Clara from 2008-16) while helping the Broncos to the 2013 College Basketball Invitational postseason tournament title and the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Championship. Santa Clara finished the 2012-13 season with a 26-12 mark that included 21 regular season victories.
Overseeing Santa Clara’s recruiting and scouting efforts, Pruitt helped develop several All-West Coast Conference selections. The Broncos placed an individual on the conference’s all-freshman team for three consecutive seasons with guard Kevin Foster finishing as Santa Clara’s all-time leading scorer and second-leading scorer in WCC history.
Santa Clara was equally successful in the classroom under Pruitt with at least one player earning a spot on the WCC All-Academic team in seven of his eight seasons with the Broncos. All 19 players who reached their senior season earned degrees and the men’s basketball program enjoyed a 100 percent graduation rate during Pruitt’s time on staff.
Prior to joining the Broncos coaching staff, Pruitt served as Santa Clara’s Director of Operations from 2008-10. He began his tenure as the team’s video coordinator for the 2008-09 season.
Before arriving at Santa Clara, Pruitt was an assistant at Division II powerhouse Cal Poly Pomona under Greg Kamansky from 2006-08. He was instrumental in the recruiting efforts that led to back-to-back national title game appearances (2009 and 2010) and the 2010 NCAA Championship title.
Pruitt graduated from UC Davis in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He was a member of the UC Davis men’s basketball team for two seasons.
His wife of 15 years, Mary Jo was an All-American runner at UC Davis and former assistant coach with Stanford’s track and field and cross country programs. She is currently the athletic director at The Bullis School in Potomac, MD. They have three children: Gisele, Paige and Trae.
Pruitt named Assistant Coach and director of Basketball Operations at George Mason
