Washington Basketball: 8 candidates to replace Mike Hopkins as Head Coach

Kyle Smith

When hunting for a new head coach, it’s important to leave no stone unturned. This is even more important for power conference teams that are looking for a jumpstart, especially as Washington prepares for a tougher life in the Big Ten. With that in mind, the coach that these Huskies have seen several times in recent years (on the other side of their state) actually makes some sense.

Smith was born in Texas and starred at Hamilton, a D3 school in New York. He’s been a collegiate coach for more than thirty years, starting with long stints as an assistant at San Diego and Saint Mary’s. Smith’s head coaching career began with relative success at Columbia before leading a turnaround of the San Francisco program. Washington State brought him aboard in 2019 and he’s currently leading the Cougars to their best season in over a decade, with the NCAA Tournament all but a certainty at this point.

Why would Washington State’s head coach leave for rival Washington? The Cougars were left out of this upcoming cycle of conference realignment. Smith could certainly prefer to head another rebuild and achieve success in the Big Ten than sticking it out as Washington State tries to figure out their basketball future. He’s been an impressive coach and is seeing results this season with the Cougars, he could certainly do the same in due time with the Huskies.