Kyle Smith
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamWashington State
ConferencePac-12
Record81–66 (.551)
Biographical details
Born (1969-06-26) June 26, 1969
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1987–1991Hamilton
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1992–2000San Diego (assistant)
2000–2001Air Force (assistant)
2001–2010Saint Mary's (assistant)
2010–2016Columbia
2016–2019San Francisco
2019–presentWashington State
Head coaching record
Overall245–188 (.566)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships

Kyle Andrew Smith (born June 15, 1969) is an American college basketball coach who is the men's head coach for the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-12 Conference. Prior to joining the Cougars, Smith was the head coach at Columbia University and then at the University of San Francisco. In his final season at Columbia, he led the team to a CIT Championship over UC Irvine. His coaching style has been dubbed “Nerdball”, which is a system that utilizes analytics to track and make decisions on many aspects about the team.[1]

Playing career

Smith was a member of New York's Hamilton College men's basketball team that achieved a 26–1 record his junior season and achieved the national Division III #1 ranking.[2] He also shot 51.3 percent from three-point range, which still stands as a Hamilton single-season record.[3] Additionally, University of Richmond head men's basketball coach Chris Mooney referred to Smith as "the smartest man in college basketball. I think he has the best feel and overview of basketball programs and coaching of anyone I've ever met."[4] Smith has a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of San Diego.

Coaching career

In his first season at Columbia, Smith piloted the Lions to a 15–13 record, becoming the first new Columbia head coach in 33 years to notch a winning season in his inaugural campaign. Smith backed up his offensive reputation with sterling numbers on that side of the ball in year one in Morningside Heights; the Lions scored over 10 points per game more in 2010–11 than they did the year before and scored more than 70 points 15 times during the entire season.

Smith followed up his first season with 15 more wins in 2011–12, becoming the first Columbia basketball coach to record as many as 30 wins in his first two seasons since Lou Rossini in 1952. Under Smith's tutelage, Columbia starting point guard Brian Barbour was voted first team All-Ivy League, the second straight year a Columbia guard was given this honor (Noruwa Agho, 2010–11).

Smith coaching Columbia in 2012

Smith steered Columbia to an RPI of 186 in both 2010–11 and 2011–12, the highest finish in the program's history. Prior to his appointment at Columbia in May 2010, Smith spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach on the NCAA Division I level, including nine seasons (2001–2010) at Saint Mary's College of California, one season at the Air Force Academy (2000–01) and eight years at the University of San Diego (1992–2000).

While at Saint Mary's, he played a role in building the Gaels program into a perennial contender in the West Coast Conference. In his nine seasons with the Gaels, they made three NCAA Tournament (2005, 2008, 2010) appearances and earned one National Invitation Tournament (2009) bid. Saint Mary's averaged 23 wins over his last six seasons on the staff, including an 81–20 record over the last three seasons.

University of San Francisco

Kyle Smith was named as the head coach of University of San Francisco, on March 30, 2016.[5] Smith led the Dons for three seasons, winning at least 20 games in each season and making two postseason appearances. At the conclusion of the 2018–2019 season, Smith left USF to take the head coaching job at Washington State.

Washington State

On March 27, 2019, Smith was named as the 19th head coach of Washington State, agreeing to a six-year contract worth $1.4 million annually. He was formally introduced at a press conference on April 1, 2019. In his first season at Washington State, Smith led the Cougars to a 6–12 conference record(16–16 overall), their best since 2011–12. In the first round of the Pac-12 tournament, Washington State beat Colorado, their first win in the conference tournament in over 10 years. In September 2021, Smith signed a contract extension through the 2026–27 season.

During the 2021–22 season, Smith led the Cougars to their first winning record in conference play (11–9) in 14 years (2007–08). The Cougars followed up their regular season success with a win in the Pac-12 tournament before losing to eventual runner-up UCLA. Following that, an NIT berth as a No. 4 seed gave the Cougs their first postseason bout in 11 years. Their first round win against Santa Clara (63–50) notched their first 20-win season since 2010–11.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Columbia Lions (Ivy League) (2010–2016)
2010–11 Columbia 15–136–85th
2011–12 Columbia 15–154–106th
2012–13 Columbia 12–164–108th
2013–14 Columbia 21–138–63rdCIT Quarterfinal
2014–15 Columbia 13–155–9T–5th
2015–16 Columbia 25–1010–43rdCIT champions
Columbia: 101–82 (.552)37–47 (.440)
San Francisco Dons (West Coast Conference) (2016–2019)
2016–17 San Francisco 20–1310–8T–4thCBI First Round
2017–18 San Francisco 22–179–9T–4thCBI Runner-Up
2018–19 San Francisco 21–109–74th
San Francisco: 63–40 (.612)28–24 (.538)
Washington State Cougars (Pac-12 Conference) (2019–present)
2019–20 Washington State 16–166–1211th
2020–21 Washington State 14–137–1210th
2021–22 Washington State 22–1511–9T–5thNIT Semifinals
2022–23 Washington State 17–1711–9T–5thNIT First Round
2023–24 Washington State 12–53–3
Washington State: 81–66 (.551)37–45 (.451)
Total:245–188 (.566)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ↑ "The Nerdball era begins at WSU. Here's why it's all about defense for Kyle Smith and the Cougars". The Seattle Times. November 7, 2019.
  2. ↑ Kyle Smith – GoColumbiaLions.com—Official Web Site of Columbia University Athletics. Gocolumbialions.com (May 2, 2010). Retrieved on November 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Kyle Smith Named Head Men's Basketball Coach". University of San Francisco Athletics.
  4. ↑ St. Mary's assistant seeks Hawaii job – SFGate. Articles.sfgate.com (March 18, 2010). Retrieved on November 6, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Kyle Smith – Men's Basketball Coach". University of San Francisco Athletics.
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