After guiding Washington State to its first NCAA Tournament in 16 years, Kyle Smith is headed to Stanford to become the Cardinal men’s basketball coach, a program source said Monday.
Smith spent the past five years with Washington State, garnering a 94-71 record and never finishing with a record below .500. Before Smith arrived in 2019, the school hadn’t finished with a winning record since 2011-12.
A No. 7 seed, Washington State defeated Drake in the first round Thursday before losing to No. 2 Iowa State on Saturday.
Stanford is coming off its second consecutive 14-win season and fired coach Jerod Haase after eight seasons earlier this month. The Cardinal haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013-14.
Before Smith, the last coach to take Washington State to the NCAA Tournament was Tony Bennett. Bennett left the Cougars in 2009 and went on to take Virginia to an NCAA championship in 2019.
Both programs are changing conferences in 2024. Stanford will move to the ACC, while Washington State will compete in the West Coast Conference.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
