Kyle Smith was named USF’s head men’s basketball coach on March 30, 2016. He is the 19th head coach of one of college basketball’s most storied programs that has won two NCAA championships (1955 and ’56), one National Invitation Tournament title (1949) and 16 conference championships.
In his first season on the Hilltop, Smith led the Dons to a 20-13 overall record, including a 10-8 mark in the West Coast Conference, and earned a postseason bid to the College Basketball Invitational. It was the Dons first 20-win season since the 2013-14 season and the program’s third since the 1985-86 season. The 20-wins were also the most by a first-year USF head coach since Pete Barry led the Dons to a 24-7 record in 1980-81. USF bolted out of the gates with 10-2 record after posting a pair of signature wins over Utah and Illinois State to reach the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
Along the way, USF set a school single-season record for three-pointers and was one of the most improved defensive teams in the nation, lowering its opponent scoring average by more than 10.0 points a game from the previous season. Senior guard Ronnie Boyce was a second team All-West Coast Conference selection while Charles Minlend and Jordan Ratinho earned a spot on the WCC’s All-Freshman team.
Prior to his arrival at USF, Smith served as the head coach at Columbia for six seasons, guiding the Lions to a 101-82 overall record and two postseason appearances. The 101 victories were the most in a six-year span at Columbia since the program posted 107 victories from 1965-71. This season, Columbia finished with a 25--10 record, finished third in the Ivy League with a 10-4 mark, and captured the CollegeInsider.com Tournament with a 73-67 victory over UC Irvine in the title game. The Lions became only the second Ivy League team to win a postseason tournament after Princeton’s 1975 NIT Championship.
The 25 victories established a single-season school-record while the 10 Ivy League victories were the most by a Columbia team since the 1992-93 squad also went 10-4 in the Ivy. It was Columbia’s second 20-win season in three years under Smith, who also guided the Lions to a 21-13 record during the 2013-14 season.
During his last three seasons at Columbia, the Lions compiled a 59-38 (.608) overall record. The 59 wins tied Princeton for the third-highest total in the Ivy League behind Yale (64) and Harvard (63).
During his six-year tenure, Smith also developed 10 players who earned All-Ivy League honors, including Maodo Lo, a two-time All-Ivy first-team recipient who is ranks as the Lions second all-time leading scorer and holds the school-record for three-pointers made.
The 2014-15 season saw an injury-riddled Lion team led top-ranked Kentucky for 27 minutes while holding the powerful Wildcats to a season-low 56 points. Lo emerged as one of the top point guards in the Ivy League and earned unanimous all-league honors, as well as NABC All-Region and All-Metropolitan second team accolades.
Smith guided the Lions to one of their best seasons in school history in 2013-14, as Columbia finished with a 21-13 overall record and earned a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, which was the Lions first postseason appearance since 1968. The 21 wins were the most since the Lions won 23 games en route to the 1967-68 Ivy League championship. The Lions also drilled a school-record 278 three-pointers and finished fourth in the nation in free throw percentage with a .755 mark. Individually, Alex Rosenberg earned first team All-Ivy League honors while Lo was a second team choice.
In 2012-13, Columbia posted home wins over eventual NCAA Tournament teams Villanova and Harvard in Levien Gymnasium.
Smith led Columbia to its second straight 15-win season in 2011-12, marking the first time the Lions accomplished that feat since 1977-78 and 1978-79 under Tom Penders. Brian Barbour earned first team All-Ivy honors and was also an all-region NABC all-region selection.
In Smith’s first season in 2010-11, the Lions finished with a 15-13 record, which was the first winning season for a new Columbia head coach in 33 years. The Lions increased their scoring output by more than 10 points a game and went over the 70 point mark on 15 occasions. Guards Noruwa Agho (first team) and Barbour (honorable mention) were All-Ivy League selections, while Agho was also honored on the regional level by the NABC and the Metropolitan Writers Association.
Prior to his appointment at Columbia in May of 2010, Smith spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach on the NCAA Division I level, including nine seasons (2001-10) at Saint Mary’s College, one season at Air Force (2000-01) and eight years at the University of San Diego (1992-2000).
While at Saint Mary’s, he played an integral role in building the Gaels program into a perennial championship contender in the West Coast Conference. In his nine seasons in Moraga, the Gaels made three NCAA Tournament (2005, ’08, ’10) appearances and earned one National Invitation Tournament (2009) bid. Saint Mary’s averaged 23 wins over his last six seasons on the staff, including a 81-20 record over the last three seasons. In 2009-10, Saint Mary’s finished with a 28-6 record, advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship and were ranked 19th nationally in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. As the associate head coach under Randy Bennett, Smith was also responsible for coordinating the team’s offense and played a key role in the recruitment of all-conference players such as Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mills, Diamon Simpson and Mickey McConnell. Mills (San Antonio) and Dellavedova (Cleveland) are currently playing in the NBA.
During his one season at Air Force, Smith served as the Falcons’ offensive and recruiting coordinator and also took a lead role with player development and scouting. He was instrumental in the recruitment of 2003-04 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Nick Welch along with all-conference players Antoine Hood and A.J. Kuhle.
Before joining the Academy, Smith served eight seasons as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego from 1992-2000 under Hank Egan and Brad Holland. During his time at San Diego, Smith helped lead the Toreros to their second-highest win total in school history (20 in 1999-2000) and as associate head coach, orchestrated a defense that allowed the lowest opponent scoring average (62.6) in the West Coast Conference (62.6 in 1999-2000).
Born in El Paso, Texas, Smith graduated in 1992 from Hamilton College with a degree in English literature. He also played basketball and helped lead the Continentals to a 26-1 record the No. 1 ranking in the nation for NCAA Division III as a junior. He shot a school-record 51.3 percent from three-point range and helped Hamilton to an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship.
Smith also earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of San Diego, where he began his coaching career. Kyle and his wife, Katie, have three sons, Rocco, Bo and Luke.
