Smith leaves Washington St. for Stanford job

Washington State‘s Kyle Smith has been hired as the new head coach at Stanford, it was announced Monday.

“The opportunity to serve as the head men’s basketball coach at Stanford is a dream come true,” Smith said in a statement.

Smith, the 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, just engineered one of the best seasons in program history, leading the Cougars to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2008.

The Cougars finished 25-10 overall and 14-6 in the Pac-12, just one game behind Arizona. After they beat the Wildcats in Tucson on Feb. 22, Washington State was alone atop the Pac-12 standings for the first time since Dec. 21, 1986. It culminated in a 7-seed on Selection Sunday and a first-round win over Drake on Thursday, the program’s fifth NCAA tournament victory since 1942.

Washington State’s season ended Saturday with a 67-56 loss to Iowa State.

Smith was at Washington State for five seasons, finishing above .500 in the Pac-12 in each of his last three seasons.

“From my perspective, Stanford has the resources and reputation to attract the ideal student-athlete who is seeking the character development aspects of what our basketball program will offer,” Smith said. “Stanford has the capacity to provide a place where student-athletes can hone their leadership skills and intellect through hard work and team building. I am thrilled to try to provide that type of culture for an institution that prides itself on excellence in all areas.”

Prior to taking over the Cougars, Smith spent three seasons as the coach at San Francisco — winning at least 20 games all three seasons — and six seasons as the coach at Columbia. While with the Lions, he led the program to their first 20-win campaign since 1969-70 and set a program record with 25 wins in 2015-16. They also won the 2016 CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament by beating UC Irvine in the title game.

Smith began his coaching career as an assistant at San Diego and was also on staffs at Air Force and Saint Mary’s.

“Kyle has an impressive track record of improving results in the programs he has led, and we heard consistently throughout our search process that he leads with great character and integrity,” Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said. “I look forward to working alongside Kyle and I am excited for Cardinal student-athletes to experience his passionate leadership.”

At Stanford, he will replace Jerod Haase, who was fired earlier this month after eight seasons. The Cardinal failed to reach the NCAA tournament during Haase’s tenure.

Smith will lead Stanford into the ACC, with the Cardinal joining the league this summer alongside Cal and SMU.