New Stanford Men's Basketball Coach Kyle Smith Enters First Year Determined

Dylan Grausz | Aug 16, 2024

Feb 20, 2021; Pullman, Washington, USA; A ball drops through the net during the Stanford Cardinal at Washington State Cougars men s basketball game in the first half at Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports / James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off of another season in which they failed to qualify for the March Madness tournament, the Stanford Cardinal knew that they needed to make a coaching change, as former men’s basketball head coach Jerod Haase ended his eight year Cardinal tenure with a 126-127 record and zero NCAA postseason tournament appearances, only leading the Cardinal to one NIT tournament appearance during his time there. After firing Haase on March 14 following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, the Cardinal opted to go for a different style, naming former Washington State coach Kyle Smith as the school’s next head basketball coach.

Smith, who won the 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year after guiding the Cougars to a second place finish in the Pac-12 as well as a berth in March Madness as the No. 7 seed, comes to Palo Alto with a 258-193 lifetime record, having also spent time as the head coach at the University of San Francisco and Columbia. A former college player himself, Smith played basketball at Hamilton College in New York from 1987-1991 before joining San Diego as an assistant coach, where he spent eight seasons, followed by a season at Air Force and nine years as an assistant at Saint Mary’s before getting his first head coaching gig at Columbia.

The 2023-24 season was one for the ages for Smith as Washington State experienced its most successful season since 2007-08, guiding the Cougars to a 25-10 record and after being projected to finish 10th in the conference in the preseason, ended up shocking the world and finished second only behind Arizona.

In fact, Smith’s Cougars beat Stanford in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament, yet Washington State ended up falling to Colorado in the second round, the team that ended up coming in second for the tournament. Even with the second-round loss, the Cougars remarkable season earned them a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years. Just a couple days after the Cougars’ season ended, Smith accepted the job offer at Stanford.

While being the man in charge of guiding the Cardinal in their first season as an ACC program, Smith’s familiarity with the former Pac-12 and the style of play makes it a great fit. Having spent years playing against the Cardinal while in Pullman, he understands already what the program entails. Known for a coaching style called “nerdball,” which uses analytics to help make decisions, Smith will bring a new flair to Stanford as he looks to guide the Cardinal to their first March Madness appearance since 2014.