Why WSU men’s basketball expectations are rising under Kyle Smith
Matt CalkinsFeb. 7, 2024 at 5:52 pmBy
Seattle Times columnist
It wasn’t long ago that those hoopers out east would regularly serve as a feast.
For 13 consecutive seasons, the Washington State men’s basketball team failed to produce a winning season in conference play and were consistently devoured by the who’s who — or even the who’s not — of the Pac-12.
The days of Tony Bennett guiding the Cougs to NCAA tournaments had nearly faded into oblivion. The idea of another Klay Thompson pulling up in Pullman seemed impossible.
Then coach Kyle Smith took over the program in 2019. After going 11-9 in conference play the past two seasons, WSU (16-6, 7-4 Pac-12) has a very real chance to go dancing for the first time in 16 years this March. In other words, the former feasts are blossoming into beasts.
“We’ve kind of had to lean on each other to create the expectation that it’s OK to be good here,” Smith said.
It’s OK to be good here. Not quite as concise as Ted Lasso’s “Believe,” but maybe a good place to start. There was a stretch, after all, when it seemed like men’s basketball success was banned on the Palouse. I mentioned that baker’s dozen streak of failing to finish above .500 in conference. I didn’t mention that, during that stretch, the Cougs lost at least twice as many games in the Pac-12 as they won.
It might have been tempting to think the Wazzu men going 22-15 overall and 11-9 two seasons ago was a one-off. It wasn’t. The Cougs weren’t quite as prosperous last season but still made the NIT for the second consecutive time. Now they’re in second place in the Pac-12 — one game behind eighth-ranked Arizona — and, according to NCAA tournament guru Joe Lunardi, would be in the dance if the season ended today.
The common denominator here is Smith, who has built and maintained a successful program amid COVID, NIL, the transfer portal and pending conference realignment. And though he gives credit to his staff (particularly associate head coach Jim Shaw) and the atmosphere around Pullman, he also emphasized what we all know to be true.
“You still gotta be able to recruit.”
And he’s done just that. The Cougs’ leading scorer and rebounder is Isaac Jones (15.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg), a senior who played at Idaho last season. Their fourth-leading scorer is Jaylen Wells (10.3 ppg), who played at Division II Sonoma State last season. Myles Rice, who’s second on the team in scoring (15.7) and first in assists (3.7) was a three-star recruit from Georgia, third-leading scorer (10.5 ppg) Andrej Jakimovski was a four-star recruit from Northern Macedonia, and fifth-leading scorer (8.7 ppg) Oscar Cluff is a first-year Coug from Australia.
That’s a recruiting sampler platter right there — a mix of gets from the portal or high school or overseas to form a squad that could end a 16-year tourney drought.
“I’ve basically made a career off the basketball version of ‘Moneyball’ — before money was involved,” said Smith, who was a head coach at Columbia and San Francisco before coming to Washington State.
Late bloomers. Under-recruited talents. It’s been working … but does the student body notice yet?
Smith noted that his team doesn’t have Beasley Coliseum rocking the way that he’d want to see yet. There is generally a “lag,” he said, between success and raucous crowds. That was the case at Columbia as well as USF, but with five of the final seven games of the season at home — including one against Washington — Kyle expects a lot fewer seats to be backside-free.
These Cougs have a shot at the tourney. They’re not getting too far ahead of themselves, of course — road games against Oregon State (Thursday) and Oregon (Saturday) await this week alone. But being part of the biggest bracket in college hoops isn’t far-fetched.
Do you feel pressure?
“Obviously, there’s pressure — pressure is a privilege,” Smith said. “You want to work hard to get yourself in that position. You can’t stick your head in the sand. You know there’s going to be chatter about it, but it’s like, ‘OK, deal with it.’ That’s part of the expectation.”
Part of the expectation — not something you’re used to hearing when talking WSU men’s basketball and the NCAA tournament. But perhaps it’s here.
It’s OK to be good at Washington State. Who knows? Maybe good is just the beginning.
