On March 18, 2024, News for CougGroup presented information to promote the idea the coach would not leave.
Just for the record, here is that info:
Will Coach Kyle Smith leave WSU?
If money were the only need for Kyle Smith, he can certainly do better elsewhere.
Pat Chun does a great job running WSU Athletics, but its budget is not great. The money he can offer a coach can’t compare to/compete with elsewhere. The same is likely true about NIL money supporting WSU.
Why would Kyle Smith stay at WSU? Ask his wife, Katie.
My recollection is that when Kyle was hired, or maybe when he was a year or so into the job, Kyle was quoted as indicating he hoped his stay at WSU would be a long one.
Katie (Davis) Smith is from eastern Washington. She was a basketball star for Manson High in league, district and at state. She went on to play college basketball for St. Mary’s. (Is that where Kyle and Terry met?)
(Manson is on the shores of Lake Chelan.)
Is WSU and Pullman a good fit for Kyle? Is it a good fit for
Katie. Is it a good fit for their three sons, especially Bo?
I’m pleased Pat Chun is WSU athletic director. He certainly has the skills to be elsewhere. Ask his wife, Natalie, and their three daughters. Do they like WSU and Pullman?
Not everyone sees WSU and Pullman as their “forever” or “almost forever place,”
A long ago (1983-1987) WSU athletic director left Pullman for a job at a university in Florida. Story was that his wife broke her leg in snow and ice during a Palouse winter. According to the story, she didn't know it snowed in Pullman! She did not like Pullman.
I never expected Dick Bennett and Tony Bennett to be at WSU a long time. There was a rumor that Tony’s wife, Laurel, didn’t like Pullman. If there was a prayer Tony would stay at WSU, maybe Laurel’s prayers were answered when Tony took the Virginia job?
::::::::::::
=Katie (Davis) Smith, Kyle's wife, remains a Chelan area icon
--Katie Davis Smith is not quite home in Manson, but she’s in “Pullman is 226 miles to the southeast -- but close enough for an easy weekend visit.”
::::::::::::::::::::
=‘It was the deal’: Two former Queen B’s – Davenport’s Jen Greeny and Manson’s Katie Smith – relive their record-setting high school careers
--“… when Kyle Smith was formally introduced as WSU’s new basketball coach, assuring the audience, “In most parts of Eastern Washington, I’m definitely not the most famous member (of our family).” The most famous is Katie (Davis) Smith
https://www.spokesman.com/
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Between baseball and college basketball, you better stretch well before you settle in to enjoy today’s competitions
--“And then there are the (Smith) family ties to Eastern Washington. His wife Katie, then Davis, played at Manson High and broke the State B scoring record in 1998. It’s a homecoming of sorts for her, though she played her college hoops at Saint Mary’s, recruited by former GU coach Kelly Graves.”
https://www.spokesman.com/
(For Your Info …In December 2023, Jen Stinson Greeny left WSU for the head volleyball coach job at West Virginia.)
::::::::::::::::::::
=Kyle Smith Named Cougar Basketball Head Coach
--“We are fortunate to have Kyle leading our program and welcome his wife Katie, along with their sons Rocco, Bo and Luke to the Cougar Family."
:::
=WSU’s Kyle Smith
confronts his biggest challenge: ‘I can't help my own son’
--Son “Bo is on the autism spectrum and is nonverbal.
--“Kyle asked Washington State athletic director Pat Chun for information about Pullman’s schools and services for children with special needs. Would Bo be OK? Was this the right move for him?”
:::
=Saint Mary’s associate basketball coach Kyle Smith gets top job at Columbia
--“Smith is married to Katie Davis, the Gaels’ assistant athletic director for academic services. They have a young son, Rocco.”
::::::::::::::
POSTSCRIPT --
AP sports writer (based in San Francisco) Janie McCauley, a WSU 1998 grad, sent out a tweet in 2019 or so saying, “Look forward to you meeting/getting to know my cousin Katie Davis Smith (played against Jen!) and new men's basketball coach Kyle Smith …
:::::::::::::::::
Kyle Smith leaving WSU, hired by Stanford
Men’s basketball head coaching job vacant for first time since 2019
By Hayden Stinchfield, Evergreen, 3/25/2024
WSU men’s basketball head coach Kyle
Smith accepted the Stanford head coaching job Monday morning. Just two days
after ending their NCAA tournament run, the Cougs are without the coach who led
them there.
It is the nature of dreams to end.
When Smith was hired to the WSU job in 2019, he was taking control of a program
that had not been above a .500 record for seven seasons. Through his five
seasons in crimson and gray, the Cougs did not have a record below .500
once.
They made two NITs and the first
NCAA tournament for the program since 2008. They were ranked, getting as high
as No. 18 and finishing their season still sitting at No. 25.
The Cougs had two players drafted to
the NBA during Smith’s tenure. That does not seem like a lot, but WSU has had
only three other players drafted since 2000. Two in five years is significant.
That kind of work attracts the eyes
of bigger programs. There were questions asked about extension talks throughout
the season, and the answers were never particularly meaningful.
With the conference collapsing and
the athletics budget decreasing, Smith was staring down the barrel of several
more years of uncertainty. Now, he will have actual conference membership along
with a salary increase.
Smith released a statement via WSU
social media Monday.
“It has been an honor to lead the
Coug basketball program to the NCAA tournament. This has not been a one-year
run, but a slow build-up of sustained success and growth year over year,” Smith
wrote. “I think our greatest accomplishment was restoring the pride in the
Cougs. With our success, there was a deeper connection between our students,
our community, and our team.”
He is right. This season, WSU had
games with fans not just in the upper-level seats, but filling them. The
national media turned their attention to a program that had not been relevant
since the Pac-10 era.
Smith closed his statement by
expressing gratitude.
“I want everyone to know how
appreciative me and my family are and will always be. We have been loved
unconditionally in this community and we will always be grateful,” Smith wrote.
“I often talk about how my ‘why’ is to empower people to empower themselves.
Washington State empowered me to fulfill my dreams, and it is time for someone
else to have this opportunity. Once a Coug, always a Coug!”
Now, it is athletic director
Pat Chun’s job to find his replacement. In the era of the transfer portal,
these hires need to be fast. A coach needs a roster, and if the position sits
vacant for long there will be transfers out with nobody to recruit anyone in to
replace them.
No comments:
Post a Comment