Washington State has hired Kyle Smith as its new men's basketball coach following the disappointing tenure of Ernie Kent. It's a six-year deal worth $1.4 million per season.
The 49-year-old Smith comes to Washington State after a successful three-year run as the head coach at San Francisco.
Smith went 63-40 at USF, winning at least 20 games in each season and finishing in the top half of the West Coast Conference standings. The Dons never reached the NCAA tournament, only the CBI tournament.
Smith should bring something new to the Cougars. He believes in using analytics or as some have called it, "Nerdball". He's won at least 20 games with "Nerdball" in all three seasons with the Dons.
Before USF, Smith coached Columbia to a 101-82 record over 6 seasons. His best finish with the Lions was his last. Columbia went 25-10 and won the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) in the 2015-16 season.
The 49-year-old played college basketball at Hamilton College in New York. He got his start in coaching with the San Diego Toreros in 1992. Smith went on to become an assistant for Air Force and Saint Mary's before getting his first head coaching job.
The Cougars have been searching for a new head coach since they fired Ernie Kent on March 15th. Kent went 58-98 in 5 seasons in Pullman.
Smith is the 19th coach in school history, the third since Tony Bennett left ten years ago.
USF is promoting associate coach Todd Golden to head coach. A person familiar with the hiring said Wednesday that Golden will take over the Dons for his first college head coach job. He will receive a five-year contract.
