On Monday morning, athletic director Bernard Muir announced Kyle Smith will be taking over as Stanford’s new men’s basketball coach. The hire, which is contingent on a background check, comes just three days after Smith’s Washington State Cougars (25-10, 14-6 Pac-12) lost to No. 2 seed Iowa State in the Round of 32.

Smith accumulated a 94-71 total record at Washington State, including a 49-48 Pac-12 record. Before making his way to Pullman, Smith made stops at the University of San Francisco (USF) and Columbia University. At USF, Smith rattled off three straight 20-win seasons, which helped set the program on an upward trajectory that it still maintains. At Columbia, Smith led the Lions to its winningest season in program history,  tallying 25 wins in the 2015-16 season.

“The opportunity to serve as the head men’s basketball coach at Stanford is a dream come true, and I want to thank Bernard Muir for entrusting me with this opportunity,” Smith said. “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 is known for his analytics-driven approach to basketball. He helped perfect an algorithm during his time at USF to identify under-recruited players. 

In an interview in 2021, Smith told Sports Illustrated that he “built a career on Moneyball.”

Smith has encountered challenges at every juncture, and will now look to overcome another obstacle: bringing Stanford back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2014.