NCAA Basketball: Top 10 best coaching hires from 2024 offseason

6. Kyle Smith (Stanford)

Another rising name in the coaching world, Smith joined Stanford and continued what has been a rapid forward ascent in his coaching career. Considering one of the nation’s smartest coaches, Smith has won everywhere he’s gone and looks to do the same in the ACC next season and beyond. It’s a great fit for a coach who’s worked on the West Coast throughout his career, with hopes to turn around a dormant program in northern California.

Smith’s early days included long coaching stints in the WCC as an assistant at San Diego and Saint Mary’s. He learned a lot under Randy Bennett and used that in his own head coaching career, which began at Columbia back in 2010. He won a CIT title with the Lions before returning west to lead San Francisco to three straight 20-win campaigns. Smith landed at Washington State in 2019 and led a great turnaround across the last five years, culminating in the Cougars’ first NCAA Tournament appearance and win in sixteen years.

Ending that Tourney drought was impressive and Smith has another similar task ahead. Stanford hasn’t sniffed the Big Dance in a decade either and now face a stiffer road as they transition from the Pac-12 to the ACC. Fortunately, Smith’s hire becomes a major upgrade for the Cardinal based on his recent success at multiple levels. Stanford could certainly turn into a roadblock on Smith’s career, but you know he’s going to put his all into this program, hoping to turn things around in the coming years.