NCAA Basketball: Top 1st-year head coaching performances so far in 2019-20
By Erik Mauro
2. Kyle Smith – Washington State
Much like Tulane, Washington State is another program that was in an abysmal spot that has already done enough to be considered overachieving. Ernie Kent was fired well past his due date. He never had a winning record in five years, he never finished at least .500. Kent never won more than six games in a conference season, and overall he was 40 games under .500.
Smith led the Dons of San Francisco for three years prior to taking the job at Wazzu, and spent six years at the Ivy League’s Columbia before that. At Columbia he won the CBI in his last year and won 20+ games every year at San Francisco.
The Cougars own wins over New Mexico State, UCLA, and upset top-10 Oregon at home. The good wins are there, and they don’t have to face Oregon again. Wazzu still has to face Arizona twice, Arizona State twice, Stanford, and travel to UCLA. Mick Cronin certainly hasn’t done a whole bunch at UCLA in year one, but UCLA Basketball is still a good win no matter when you get it.
CJ Elleby is pretty much the entire team for the Cougars. He leads the way in PPG, rebounds, steals, three pointers made, and free throws made. He averages 19 PPG and seven rebounds, with 33 steals. Elleby is also second on the team with 10 blocks. Isaac Bonton is chipping in with 14 PPG and leads the team in assists.
Washington State is a tough job in a power conference. Pullman isn’t a very desirable location, and recruiting won’t be easy. Smith is well-renowned in coaching circles for his use of analytics and that may be the thing that sets him over the top in Pullman. If he can pull some talent, Smith and his staff will turn it around soon enough.