Nineteen takeaways from the introduction of
Washington State’s 19th basketball coach
UPDATED: Tue., April 2, 2019, 8:47 a.m.
By
Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
Click on this link to hear Theo Lawson talk
about WSU men’s hoops and WSU football:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/spokesman-review/0402-pressbox_1
PULLMAN – Washington State formally
introduced new basketball coach Kyle Smith in front of almost 100 school
officials, fans and media members Monday afternoon in the Rankich Club Room at
Martin Stadium.
Smith riffed on “Nerdball” – the
analytics-driven approach he’ll bring to Pullman – talked about the Cougars’
current roster and covered a variety of other topics during his hour-long
introduction.
After interviews with Smith, athletic
director Pat Chun and players Jervae Robinson and Marvin Cannon, we compiled 19
takeaways from the introduction of the Cougars’ 19th basketball coach.
1. We’ll stick with “Nerdball” for now, but
there may be a few other branding opportunities for the numbers-driven formula
Smith has used at Columbia, USF and is now bringing to WSU.
“It’s been ‘Smith-metrics,’ ‘The Matrix,’
we’re trying to match someone with Air Raid let’s be honest,” Smith said. “So
maybe it’s ‘Data Attack.’ Or we can stick with Nerdball. I’m OK with Nerdball.”
2. The motion-tracking system that Smith’s
teams at USF utilized will be integrated at WSU, too, though it might not
happen immediately. The advanced cameras that the Dons set up around War
Memorial Gym in San Francisco are similar to the ones used at every practice
gym in the NBA.
“It’s amazing stuff because it gets down to
your shot contest, down to measuring inches and that,” Smith said. “So what you
can’t tell with the naked eye. We’re always grading stuff like that. In the
moment, you have a better feel. Then you watch it on film and you grade it. But
this actually gives you distance, time. It matters, it’ll be something we
definitely.”
3. It’s common for players to re-explore
their options when one coach is fired and another is hired. In many cases, it’s
the right path. But Robinson, a point guard who scored 4.6 points per game
during his debut season at the Division I level, said he’d already built up too
much equity at WSU and never considered a transfer.
“Everyone wants to keep their options open,
but I’ve wanted to be at the highest level for forever,” he said. “I did two
years at junior college to be at this level, not to waver and go back and forth
to different places. So I think it’s been pretty easy for me. I believe in
coach Smith so far.”
4. Re-recruiting the current Cougars will
be as important as going after the future ones, at least in the early going,
and Smith made his pitch to forward Jeff Pollard – who Ernie Kent often called
his “glue guy” last season – during the press conference. An All-Pac-12
Academic selection who started in 23 of the 29 games he played in last year,
Pollard has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, but is reportedly still
considering a return to Pullman for his senior season.
“There is one guy that’s on an official
visit right now and I’m going to try to reel him back in,” Smith said. “I’m
calling him out, it’s Jeff Pollard. He’s going to be mad, I know it, but you
are welcome here brother. You are a Coug, so we want you back. I’ll go biblical
and the story of the prodigal son, man, in open arms you come back. We’re all
hugs, we’re all love. So I’d love to have him and I think we will.”
5. CJ Elleby entered his name into the NBA
Draft this week, but has yet to hire an agent, meaning the Cougars could get
the freshman and his 14.7 points per game/7.1 rebounds per game back next
season. Elleby’s attended both of the practices Smith has held so far.
“If he has a promise, he should stay (in
the draft),” Smith said. “I don’t know if you should ever turn that down. If
it’s a promise to be a first-round pick, but the unfortunate thing is there’s
that margin if you’re not that, then it becomes a much harder row to hoe. But I
would say you only get this opportunity to play, it’s this adolescence to young
adulthood, 18-22-year-olds where you’re around guys the same age.”
6. There’s eight players on Smith’s roster
for now, presuming both Elleby and Pollard return. The core group, which also
includes Robinson, Cannon, Ahmed Ali, Jaz Kunc, Chance Moore and Isaiah Wade,
has given itself a nickname: the “Elite Eight” or the “Almighty Eight.”
“Us, with the Elite Eight guys, we’re just
ready to work for him and just ready to be everything he needs for him and just
go hard for him,” Cannon said.
It’s possible none of the eight will ever
play in an NCAA Tournament, let alone a postseason game, but Smith called them
the foundational pieces who’d receive their due credit years down the road.
“These two practices, at the end of the
practices … I said, ‘This is our origin story,’ ” Smith said. “ ‘When we turn
this thing around and go to the NCAA Tournament, it’s you eight guys that had a
lot to do with this.’ ”
7. Chun’s financial commitment to the
turnaround of the basketball program was a major point of conversation when
Kent was fired – a move that’ll cost the university $4.2 million over the next
three years. WSU’s Board of Regents approved a request that’ll allow the
basketball program to spend $500,000 on hiring a basketball staff and Chun said
a variety of boosters have committed funds to the basketball program, helping
defray what it cost to fire Kent.
“There have been donors that have already
communicated to us that they want to help, they’re willing to help,” he said.
“We’ve really just been telling people the best way to help was to buy season
tickets.”
8. Chun also said Beasley Coliseum reached
80 percent capacity during the pinnacle of the Tony Bennett era. By contrast,
the basketball arena struggled to reach 20 percent capacity during Kent’s final
season.
“That’s significant revenue that really
mitigates a lot of this,” Chun said. “But the financial upside for us is
selling tickets at Beasley. We’ve got to get students and fans that want to
come out, but we feel like at least this is a step in that direction.”
9. Derrick Phelps was on Smith’s staff for
two years at Columbia and all three years while the coach was at USF. It
appears he’s agreed to help with Smith’s rebuild in Pullman, too. Because of
formalities, Smith couldn’t announce Phelps, officially, but he did hint to it,
saying one of his two assistants had “won a national championship – that’s the
highest mountain you can achieve.”
Phelps was the starting point guard on
North Carolina’s 1993 national-championship winning team.
10. The Cougars ranked 330th nationally in
total defense last season. Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency rating
scored them at 110.3, which ranked 284th in the NCAA. Smith called those
numbers “egregious” and assured defense was his top priority.
“We confronted the brutal facts of the
team,” Smith said. “… In our two practices, a lot of time’s been dedicated to
trying to get better defensively. We’ve got to start there.”
11. Smith’s teams utilize the acronym “DRT”
(pronounced like “dirt”). That stands for, “defend, rebound, take care of the
ball.”
Last season, Smith’s USF team ranked fourth
in the WCC in scoring defense (67.8 ppg), third in rebounding margin (plus 3.2)
and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).
12. Former WSU coach Tony Bennett, headed
to the Final Four with Virginia this weekend, was influential in Smith’s
upbringing as a coach and there’s a few comparisons to be made between their
philosophies – most notably their attention to defense.
“Tony and I have a couple things in
common,” Smith said. “You wouldn’t know by our last name, but we’re both
Italian and we both coach basketball. Please don’t hold me up, please don’t
make me like Saint Tony. I’m not a saint, that guy might be a saint.”
13. Smith once rejected an offer from
Bennett to join the coach’s staff in Pullman as an assistant. Lorenzo Romar
once got a ‘no’ from Smith, too. He shared those stories with a few reporters.
“Lorenzo offered me a job when I was 31 and
it would’ve been my third job in three years and I said, no I’m staying at
Saint Mary’s, they told me I’d be the next head coach. Randy (Bennett) is still
there,” Smith said, laughing. “Then I remember sitting there, Tony, we were out
recruiting and watching James Harden and I still remember vividly and he’s
like, ‘Let’s talk.’ And he offered me a job for $20,000 less than I was making
at Saint Mary’s and said come up here.”
14. Bennett also stole one of Smith’s
recruits while Smith was still coaching in the Ivy League, at Columbia. That
player, Ty Jerome, is the point guard who’ll be starting for the Cavaliers when
they take on Auburn this Saturday in Minneapolis.
“Let that be known,” Smith said. “Ty Jerome
was committed to us as a ninth grader, I was livid. He was in our gym in
Columbia every day.”
15. The small-school state basketball
tournament in Spokane, affectionately known as “State B,” was mentioned during
the press conference. Smith’s wife, Katie (Davis Smith), broke the single-game
state tournament scoring record in 1998, previously held by current Cougar
volleyball coach Jen Greeny – then Jen Stinson – while playing for Manson High
School.
“In most parts of eastern Washington, I’m
definitely not the most famous (family) member,” Smith said. “… True story, I
was on the bus one time and this bus driver was talking about the Class B
championships – which I’m like, ‘This is insane’ – and he mentioned he saw this
girl score 50 and he talked about, she beat out Jen Stinson. I’m like, I was an
assistant at Saint Mary’s, I said ‘That’s my wife.’ ”
16. Both of the WSU players who showed up
to Smith’s introductory conference said they put their coach’s name into a
search engine before meeting him in person for the first time.
“I wanted to do my research before I met
him,” Cannon said, “… Read nothing but good things about him and just how he
built programs and how great of a guy he is.”
17. When Smith and Chun spoke on the phone,
the coach posed a question to the athletic director that Smith later said
affirmed his trust in the man who’d be hiring him.
“I said, ‘Well if I go up there and do a
good job (with the interview), are you going to offer me the job?’ ” Smith
recalled. “He said no. And I said, I can trust this guy. Truthfully.”
18. Chun hadn’t spoken in a true media
setting about what factored into the decision to move on from Kent, but gave a
more detailed explanation Monday.
“The number one priority is the current
student athletes and their experience just wasn’t what they wanted it to be and
I get it, that’s part of the wins and losses,” Chun said. “The second piece is,
we’ve got to stop the regression and erosion of our program. You can look at
the numbers since the 2010-11 season and our arc has been straight downhill.”
19. Both of the former Cougars now playing
in the NBA, Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and Aron Baynes of the
Boston Celtics, were consulted about the school’s coaching search. A
conversation with Baynes was especially helpful, Chun said.
“We reached out to Klay, I made
communication lines open with Klay,” Chun said. “He has a lot of pride in this
program. But I give Aron (credit). We talked for 30 minutes after one of his
games. … With Aron, his belief in international players and Australian players
specifically really opened my eyes up to what we could be and add to our
profile.
“If we need to recruit to win, we need the
right type of players. He walked through why he ended up at Washington State,
why he felt like Washington State was a great option for Australian players,
why the development in Australia was so great.”
::::::::::::::::::::
Katie Davis Smith, the 1990s hoops pride of
Chelan, likes Pullman move
By Jackson Gardner, Cougfan.com
PULLMAN - For Kyle Smith, moving to Pullman
to become the 19th head coach of Washington State's basketball program is a
step into uncharted territory, both geographically and in taking his first
Power 6 head coaching job. But for his wife, Katie Davis Smith, the move to
Pullman is a homecoming, she tells Cougfan.com.
Born and raised in Chelan, Katie said she
holds eastern Washington near to her heart. Back in 1998, when Katie roamed the
halls of Manson High, she was creating more headlines than her future husband,
who was still an assistant for Brad Holland at San Diego.
Katie had a decorated basketball career for
the Manson Trojans. She famously went off for a 50-point night against
Wahkiakum High in the 1998 2B state basketball tournament. To this day, the
record remains unbroken.
Although she has since hung up the
sneakers, leaving San Francisco to come back to Eastern Washington - with her
family - life has come full circle.
“I loved how I grew up in Chelan and a lot
of friends and family have reached out, friends that I haven’t heard from in 15
years because we have been gone for so long, so it’s very exciting," Katie
said with a smile. “I’m just excited to raise our family in a small town
because I know how much I valued that. Certainly there are mixed emotions, it
was tough leaving USF and a lot of special people there, but our family is very
excited.”
Among the old friends who reached out to
Katie was Jen Greeny, WSU’s head volleyball coach. Greeny, who went by her
maiden name Stinson in 1995, crossed paths with Katie on the hardwood when she
was a senior at Davenport when Katie was a sophomore at Manson.
“Well actually, Katie Smith wasn’t the
name, it was [Katie] Davis,” Greeny said. “So actually [KXLY TV sports
director] Dennis Patchin texted me and he goes ‘Katie Davis back to Pullman’
and I was like ‘Wait, what? Oh my gosh no way!’ so I was really excited to get
Katie and Kyle to town. And I was telling them anything I can do to help we’ll
definitely do that. And we’re going to own the neighborhood basketball games.”
Both Katie and Jen took home their fair
share of Washington state 2B state playoff records. While Katie holds the
single-game record for most points in a 2B state tournament game, Greeny holds
the record for the most career points in 2B state tournament games (421; 1992-95). Collectively, both women still hold
nine of the 23 individual all-time state tournament records for 2B women's
basketball.
:::::::::::::::::::
‘Crunch’ time in Cougville
To Kyle Smith, Washington State’s pick to
head its men’s basketball program, it’s all about the data
By COLTON CLARK Lewiston Tribune Apr 2, 2019
Kyle Smith, Washington State’s 19th men’s
basketball coach, is seeking a moniker of sorts.
To emulate Mike Leach’s “Air Raid,” a
jubilant Smith suggested perhaps “Data Attack,” then paused before consenting
to what those on the national stage know his system by — “Nerdball.”
“I can remember distinctly (athletic
director Pat Chun) sending me a note during the search process — ‘There’s this
article I need you to go read in The Athletic called ‘Nerdball.’” WSU President
Kirk Schulz said during Smith’s introductory news conference on Monday
afternoon at Martin Stadium.
“This is cool; this could fit at WSU,”
Schulz said.
The call was made, and Smith quickly
“checked” all of Chun’s metaphorical “chalkboard pieces” during the two-week
hunt. The brain behind the feature was headed to Pullman.
With a six-year, $1.4 million annual
contract in hand, Smith is set to initiate a rebuild using safe-play,
glass-owning and tight-defense facets while also working through expected
“rough patches.”
“A lot of people say Disneyland is the
happiest place on Earth,” said Smith, keeping it light. “Lemme tell ya, Pullman
is the friendliest place on Earth.”
Smith — coach at San Francisco the past
three years who now replaces five-year coach Ernie Kent — submitted a cluster
of aspirations for the program during the near-hourlong session in front of
school officials, media members and enthusiastic, success-starved, crimson-clad
Cougar faithful. He outlined the pillars of his coaching process, including
unwavering work ethic, gradual improvement and, of course, data.
“We make a lot of mini goals daily and
weekly and use a lot of metrics to measure improvement,” he said, referring to
his numbers-based system that gauges everything from box-outs to shots
contested. “At San Francisco in my first year ... USF was 291st defensively
(KenPom). I don’t think they hired me as a defensive guru, but we went to No.
58 (the next year) and it was this constant thing. We won more than we were
expected to and hopefully we have that same success here.”
Considering the 2018 Cougs’ No. 284 ranking
in adjusted defense, an “egregious” number, Smith’s got “a good sketch” of his
initial focus.
Naturally, winning is the first priority
for WSU, but Chun and Schulz have granted Smith time to build, just as they did
last year when they hired women’s basketball coach Kamie Ethridge, and pledged
full, flexible support.
“I like what Kirk was talking about — being
patient,” Smith said with a laugh.
Schulz had concluded his talk with pleas
directed at the fan base. First, to “show up” and “bring 100 of your closest
friends.” Second: “Patience.”
“It takes time to do this and it takes time
to do this well,” Schulz said. “It’s really important that we focus on building
a culture.”
And according to Chun — who used feedback
from former WSU players and coaches during the search — history was key.
Smith’s familiarity with past Coug coaches and his dedication at programs like
USF and Columbia, “two tougher places (to build) than WSU will ever be,” Chun
said, were noted.
History concerns Smith’s “commitment to see
it through,” an applicable quality given this lusterless decade for Wazzu,
during which hasn’t reached the Big Dance or even won a Pac-12 tournament game.
Smith surely knows his work is cut out for
him in a job tabbed arguably the toughest in the Power Six leagues. But it
hasn’t deterred him. Smith understands persistence. He’d tried and failed 11
times to become a head coach (before Columbia), then resurrected the Lions’
program and fashioned a solid Dons team in the West Coast Conference.
“He’s a teacher, someone who can recruit
and develop character … build and sustain a program,” Chun said of the
49-year-old Smith, who tracks about 50 stat categories per each of his players.
“An acumen for the game of basketball, and someone with a chip on their
shoulder.”
Two practices in, Smith’s inspired faith in
his eight inherited players, whom aspiring rapper and Coug post Isaiah Wade
coined the “Almighty Eight,” with some prodding from the coach.
“This is our origin story when we turn this
thing and go to the NCAA Tournament,” Smith told his troupe. “It’s you eight
guys that had a lot to do with this. Everyone that walks through that door …
you’re gonna lead them in how we build this thing.”
Smith acknowledged WSU’s geographical
disadvantage, and said he’s not “naive to what the history’s been.” Still, he’s
set a “20 percent” improvement goal for 2019-20. After that? Well, some
well-being couldn’t hurt.
“We’re gonna do things smart, responsibly
and build a great culture,” he said. “I guarantee you’ll see that out of us.”
NOTE — Smith jestingly “called out” Jeff
Pollard, who, along with Carter Skaggs, has reportedly entered his name into
the NCAA’s transfer portal.
“I’ll try to reel him back in,” Smith said.
“I know he’s gonna be mad, but you’re welcome here, brother. You’re a Coug and
we want you back.”
:::
Cougar Baseball Offense Comes Alive in Win
over Gonzaga
From WSU Sports Info
PULLMAN. (April 2, 2019) – Washington State
used a couple big innings and some timely pitching to post a 12-10
nonconference win over Gonzaga in front of 1,003 fans at Bailey-Brayton Field
Tuesday evening.
The Cougars built an 8-1 lead in the fourth
and held off a couple late inning rallies before Michael Newstrom closed things
out in the ninth to earn his first career save. WSU received three-hit games
from Kodie Kolden and Andres Alvarez who both also homered while Kolden tallied
five RBI and catcher Rob Teel also drove in three. Freshman Tyson Guerrero
earned the win after working 3.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts.
In the first, Kolden led off the game with
a bunt single to third base and one batter later Alvarez hammered a 1-0 pitch
deep over the wall in left for a no-doubter, a two-run shot for a 2-0 lead. In
the second, Jack Smith and Jared Thurber were each hit by a pitch and Kolden
followed with a two-out three-run blast to left field to make it 5-0.
In the fourth, Guerrero worked in the
fourth before exiting with two outs and a Gonzaga run across. Reliever Zane
Mills took over and ended the inning with a fielder’s choice groundout,
preserving a 5-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Cougars
add three more runs with a two-out single from Alvarez followed by a two-run
double off the left-centerfield wall by Rob Teel for an 8-1 advantage.
In the sixth, WSU saw Danny Sinatro work a
leadoff walk, steal second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Teel’s
RBI-groundout to second for a 9-1 lead.
In the seventh, Gonzaga loaded the bases
with nobody out and pushed one run across on a single to left, another on an
infield single to the pitcher and two more scored on a fielding error, cutting
the lead to 9-5. Two more runs scored on groundouts and reliever Davis Baillie
ended the inning with a groundout to first base, preserving a 9-7 Cougar lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, WSU used a
bases loaded two-run single back up the middle but Kolden and a sacrifice fly
from Sinatro to push the lead back to five, 12-7.
In the eighth, Gonzaga scored a pair of
runs to cut the lead to 12-9. In the ninth, Newstrom earned the save, recording
a strikeout, a foul out and a ground out to third to preserved the 12-10 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kodie Kolden led off the game with a bunt
single, extending his hitting streak to 7 games
Alvarez homered in the 1st to extend his
hitting streak to 7 games and on-base streak to 12
Reliever Brody Barnum made his season debut
on the mound in the 7th inning
NEXT UP
The Cougars head to northern California for
a three-game Pac-12 Conference series with California, all three games will be
on the Pac-12 Networks.
#
