Men's Squash
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- sw12@princeton.edu
- Phone:
- 609-258-3886
Email Coach Wilkinson at sw12@princeton.edu.
With a wealth of experience at both the intercollegiate and international levels, Sean Wilkinson was named The Robert W. Callahan '77 Head Coach of Men's Squash prior to the 2013-14 season. He enters his 13th year at Princeton with the 2025-26.
Wilkinson, the 2024 Ivy League Coach of the Year, guided Princeton to the Ivy League title that season. The clincher for the league title came on the final day of dual matches in Jadwin Gym, with Princeton rallying from a 4-1 deficit against Penn to win 5-4 and finish 5-1 in the Ivy. Princeton finished that year with three All-Ivy and All-America honorees, including Karim Elbarbary, Hollis Robertson and Thomas Rosini, with Elbarbary becoming a three-time All-American. Princeton followed that with a semifinal run at the CSA team tournament and repeated that finish in 2025.
In 2019-20, Princeton finished fourth in the country, and in the return of the tournament in 2021-22 after it was canceled the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Princeton finished sixth. Princeton has competed in the Potter Cup, the top draw of the CSA team tournament, each year it has been held since 2018. Also at the 2022 CSA championships, Youssef Ibrahim '22, the Ivy League Player of the Year, made the final in the Pool Trophy draw, coming two points away from winning the CSA national title. 2023 saw four Tigers participating in the CSA Individual Championships, and two All American honorees in Karim Elbarbary and Daelum Mawji.
The 2017-18 season saw Princeton return to the 'A' flight of the CSA team championships for the first time since 2013. The Tigers won nine matches during the season, including a dramatic 5-4 road win at sixth-ranked Penn. The Quakers were the highest-ranked opponent that Princeton has beaten since 2013, and Princeton also had three 5-4 losses to teams ranked either fourth (St. Lawrence) or fifth (Dartmouth).
In 2017-18, Youssef Ibrahim went from being one of the most highly sought recruits in the history of the sport to a First-Team All-American and the 2018 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He was one of four freshmen to regularly play in the starting lineup, and that quartet combined to go 44-28.
They followed a strong Class of 2020, including another former All-American in Adhitya Raghavan, who reached the semifinal of the 2017 British Junior Open and has played at the #1 or #2 position throughout his Princeton career.
Wilkinson's first two seasons offered challenges due to both graduation and injury, but the Tigers persevered and went 16-15 over that stretch, winning the Hoehn Cup title at the team national championships both years. He has coached five All-Americans during his time at Princeton, including two-time First-Team honoree Samuel Kang. His other All-Americas were Tyler Osborne (1st team, 2014), Dylan Ward (2nd team, 2014), Raghavan (2nd team, 2017), and Ibrahim (1st team, 2018).
His team also showed the character that was expected by his predecessor, Bob Callahan. The Tigers won the 2014 Sloane Award for Team Sportsmanship following the CSA Team Championships.
Wilkinson, who had previously served as assistant coach at Drexel University, took over for US Squash Hall of Famer Bob Callahan ’77, who had retired following the 2013 season. Wilkinson, a graduate of Bates College and native of Zimbabwe, served as assistant coach at both Bates and Brown University before being appointed as the first assistant coach at Drexel.
Beyond his time coaching at the collegiate level, Wilkinson’s experience included a two-year term as the head coach at the PoliSquash Sports and Fitness Club in Milano, Italy. Selected as a PeterNicolSquash endorsed coach, Wilkinson held 50 sessions a week for individual and group squash players.
In addition to running these sessions, Wilkinson headed the junior squash program, recruiting new players and organizing their lessons. He also managed a league of over 150 players and put together club tournaments, including the annual 5Nationals International Tournament with 64 competitors.
Working closely with former world number one player Peter Nicol, he has also coached at the Nicol Champions Academy for the past three summers and the Squash and Beyond program at Williams College during the summers of 2008 and 2009.
A 2008 graduate of Bates College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Wilkinson captained the Bates team which captured the Hoehn Cup in 2008. He was a New England Small College Association first team selection, and earned the Bates College Sportsmanship Award.
“Sean is going to be a terrific leader for this team,” Callahan, who passed away during the 2014-15 season, said upon Wilkinson's hiring. “He is poised, personable, and a very good coach. I believe he is going to have great success here at Princeton over a hopefully long career.”
| Year | Overall | Ivy | All-America/All-Ivy |
| 2013-14 | 8-7 | 3-4 | Kang (1st/All-Ivy)/Osborne (2nd/All-Ivy)/Ward (2nd) |
| 2014-15 | 8-8 | 4-3 | Kang (1st/All-Ivy)/Osborne (2nd/All-Ivy) |
| 2015-16 | 4-13 | 1-6 | |
| 2016-17 | 6-10 | 2-5 | Adhitya Raghavan (2nd/All-Ivy) |
| 2017-18 | 9-9 | 4-3 | Youssef Ibrahim (1st/All-Ivy/Rookie) |
| 2018-19 | 7-9 | 4-3 | Adhitya Raghavan (2nd/All-Ivy) |
| 2019-20 | 11-6 | 4-3 | Youssef Ibrahim (All-Ivy) |
| 2020-21 | -- | -- | Season canceled due to COVID-19 |
| 2021-22 | 8-6 | 3-3 | Youssef Ibrahim (1st/All-Ivy)/Karim Elbarbary (2nd) |
| 2022-23 | 11-4 | 4-2 | Karim Elbarbary (1st/All-Ivy) & Daelum Mawji (2nd/All-Ivy) |
| 2023-24 | 10-3 | 5-1 | Karim Elbarbary, Hollis Robertson, Thomas Rosini (All-Ivy & 1st Team All-Americans) |
| 2024-25 | 11-2 | 5-1 | Avi Agarwal, Ahmed Hussein (2nd/All-Ivy), Zain Ahmed, Thomas Rosini (All-Ivy) |
| Total | 93-77 | 39-34 | 17 All-Americans, 18 All-Ivy, 1 Ivy Rookie of the Year |
