Anthony Stewart | |
Birth Date: | 15 April 1970 |
Birth Place: | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
Death Place: | Martin, Tennessee, U.S. |
Player Years1: | 1989–1993 |
Player Team1: | Mount Union |
Coach Years1: | 2001–2004 |
Coach Team1: | Columbus State CC (assistant) |
Coach Years2: | 2004–2006 |
Coach Team2: | Long Beach State (assistant) |
Coach Years3: | 2007–2011 |
Coach Team3: | Wyoming (assistant) |
Coach Years4: | 2011–2012 |
Coach Team4: | Southern Illinois (assistant) |
Coach Years5: | 2012–2014 |
Coach Team5: | Ohio (assistant) |
Coach Years6: | 2014–2016 |
Coach Team6: | UT Martin (assistant) |
Coach Years7: | 2016–2020 |
Coach Team7: | UT Martin |
Overall Record: | 51–73 |
Tournament Record: | 1–1 (CIT) |
Championships: | OVC West Division (2017) |
Anthony W. Stewart[1] (April 15, 1970 – November 15, 2020) was an American college basketball coach.[2] [3] His last position was as head coach of the UT Martin Skyhawks. Since Stewart joined the Skyhawk program as the associate head coach under Heath Schroyer in 2014, the team won 94 games, the most in a six-year time period since they became part of Division I. Stewart was responsible of the team's three straight 20-win campaigns from 2014–2017, a first for the UT team.[4] Also in that span, the Skyhawks won five postseason games and was the only Ohio Valley Conference school to win at least one postseason game in each of the last three seasons. Coach Stewart had gone on to coach over 15 professional players during his coaching career.
Stewart was a two-sport athlete at Mount Union, where he played both basketball and baseball.
Stewart began his coaching career at Columbus State Community College, before moving on to assistant coaching stops at Long Beach State, Wyoming, Southern Illinois, and Ohio.[5] In 2014, Stewart joined Heath Schroyer's staff at UT Martin, reunited with Schroyer when he served under him as an assistant at Wyoming. In 2016, Schroyer accepted an assistant coaching position at NC State, and Stewart was elevated to interim head coach.[6] [7]
On November 3, 2016, Stewart was given the job on a permanent basis.[8] In his first season at the helm, the Skyhawks went 22–13, finished in first place in the West division of the OVC, and participated in the 2017 CIT. Following the 2017–18 season, his son Parker Stewart transferred from Pittsburgh to UT Martin.[9]
On November 15, 2020, Stewart died suddenly at age 50. The cause is unknown. He was laid to rest at Greenlawn Cemetery in Akron, Ohio, and is survived by his wife Cheryl and his children Anthony, Parker, and Skylar.[10]