Masters Academy International has made the first major audible to its girls basketball program and found a prominent local figure to lead it.
Sean "Sticks" Smith is now the girls head coach at the new sports-centric academy in Stow, Mass., the school announced last Tuesday. Smith was most recently an assistant coach at Northeastern and will get the program off the ground with the first day of school less than two months away.
"This is a dream job," Smith said on Monday. "My ultimate goal was always to be the head coach at a prep school because of the work-life balance that it provided, in addition to having the collegiate-level approach with your ability to recruit and select (and) hand-pick, but still having an emphasis on education."
MAI had previously tapped Rodney Hill to be head coach, but the two sides quietly parted ways sometime in late spring for unknown reasons. Hill is now the Douglass boys head coach in Oklahoma City.
Smith, meanwhile, left Northeastern after two seasons, but his roots in New England extend far beyond. He was a Maine assistant from 2013-15 (along with subsequent assistant coaching positions at Rider and St. Francis). His wife, Chenel Harris-Smith, is the Colby women's head coach.
And for a four-year span before joining Northeastern, Smith ran his own Sticks Skills Training business, working with several future NCAA basketball players highlighted by current South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts and current Providence forward Olivia Rodrigues (from Dennis Port, Mass.). His base of former college players and training clients have given Smith a confidence that he can market himself easily.
"It's something that was told to me by an athletic director when I was at a head coaching training program. First thing a school has to do when they announce a head coach is just win the interview — win the press conference. Does the hire make sense?" Smith said. "With people having a familiarity with me here in New England, I think that would bode well for us being able to be successful. And being that I've been able to work camps and clinics and interact with players on a national perspective, now we can cast a bigger net."
Smith has also ran warmup skills sessions and led a clinic ahead of the last NEPSAC Girls Scholastic Showcase. It was following the 2026 iteration that a prep coach approached him with knowledge of MAI's job opening and a recommendation to apply.
His established local ties with AAU programs and prep schools give him a head start, but Smith has much work ahead to build an MAI roster and schedule quickly. Only a small handful of players have publicly announced their enrollment so far. Smith expects to recruit first through New England and his other connections in the Midwest and South regions, eventually expanding nationally.
"For me at this level, I think with us wanting to cast a wide net and play a national schedule, I think the biggest thing was having housing to be able to provide," he said. "We want to take care of home first, but we want to open the doors to people on a national scale."
Unlike on the boys side, where MAI effectively replaces Brewster on the Nike EYBL Scholastic high school circuit, MAI has no girls counterpart to join. But Smith hopes to bring his team to a few prominent showcases, such as the She Got Game Classic in Washington, D.C., and the Chris Smalling Tournament in Toronto. Smith also plans to compete against NEPSAC programs and says a few have been willing to schedule MAI so far.
"There are going to be some (NEPSAC schools) that are apprehensive because of the scope and the idea of the magnitude of what we're going to build here," he said. "But then you have some relationships with coaches that don't mind. (They're) like, 'Hey, we understand that this is all taking place for you at the latter portion of the summer, and you're probably in scramble mode. So let me know if you need a game.' And I'm thankful for for those relationships."
Smith spent the last live period weekend at both the Adidas 3SSB and Nike EYBL championships, networking and publicizing his new role at MAI. He credited MAI co-founder Peter Masters, basketball director John Carroll and athletic director Micah Hauben for giving him the opportunity and runway to build this program.
"I think the biggest challenge for me is just to make sure that I live up to the expectations that they have in place for me," Smith said. "That is the biggest challenge, and I'm up for it."
