PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State will be looking for a new basketball coach. Kyle Smith is leaving Pullman to take a job with Stanford.
Smith led the Cougs to a 25-10 record this year and the school's first NCAA Tournament bid since 2008. WSU lost to Iowa State in the second round of the tournament on Saturday.
The impressive season for WSU earned Smith the Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year award.
Smith released the following statement about his departure on X.
The coach's future at WSU has been talked about for the past several weeks. Smith's success with the Cougs comes at a time when the Pac-12 conference's future is uncertain. Stanford is one of 10 teams that will leave the conference after this year. Stanford will be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It now remains to be seen how many of Smith's players will hit the transfer portal and follow him to Stanford.
An early shortlist of potential coaching candidates for WSU includes Jim Shaw, John Andrzejek, former Whitworth coach and current Montana State coach Matt Logie and EWU's David Riley.
This is a developing story. KREM 2 News will update this article as we learn more.
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