Kyle Smith
8/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Kyle Smith, who joined the Saint Mary's coaching staff in 2001 as the first hire by Randy Bennett, enters his ninth year with the Gaels basketball program. Smith's primary duties include co­or­di­nating the team's re­cruiting pro­gram, in­stalling the team's offen­sive game plan, and player de­vel­opment.
As the associate head coach all nine seasons at Saint Mary's, Smith has been a vital component to the Gaels' turnaround, helping the team to three post-season appearance in eight years, including two NCAA Tournament appearances and a National Invitational Tournament appearance in 2009. The Gaels made their first appearance in the NIT, and got wins against Washington State (68-57) and Davidson (80-68). Additionally, the two NIT wins marked the first post-season victories for Saint Mary's since the 1959 NCAA Tournament.
Smith was vital to the team's overall success in 2008-09, as the Gaels set a school record with 28 wins, broke the school record with an 18-game win streak, and broke the school record for points in a season with 2,569, averaging 73.4 points per game. In the eight years that Smith has been in Moraga, the Gaels have set the single season scoring record three times in 2003-04, 2007-08, and again in 2008-09. With Smith helping develop the team's offensive direction, the Gaels have the top four single best scoring seasons in school history, and five of the top six. In 2003-04, the Gaels scored 2,377 points, then in 2007-08, SMC poured in 2,421 points en route to the NCAA Tournament.
In both the 2004-05 and 2007-08 seasons, Smith played a key role in helping the Gaels tie the previous school record for wins in a season. The 2004-05 team, which made the school's fourth NCAA Tournament, posted a 25-9 record. The 2007-08 team, which made the made the school's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, finished the year with a 25-7 record.
In all eight seasons, the Gaels have held opponents to less that 68 points per game, while holding opponents to 65 points or fewer in five seasons. During Smith's time at SMC, the Gaels lowest defensive scoring average was 63.7 in 2007-08, while the Gaels have held opponents to 64.1 points per game four times (2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05, and 2008-09). Saint Mary's has had the best scoring defense in the West Coast Conference six times in the last eight years. In his first season with the program, SMC made the biggest turn­around in scoring de­fense in the nation. After allowing 79.9 points per game in 2000-01, the Gaels held opponents to 64.1 points per game the next year, an im­provement of 15.8 points in one year.
As the recruiting coordinator at SMC, Smith has been an integral part of keeling the Gaels as one of the top programs in the West. They have been able to average 22 wins over the last five years, with a strong influx of good talent. Smith has been instrumental in helping nail down the Gaels as a premier program to the Bay Area, West Coast, and Internationally. Smith has played a vital role in the recruitment of local players E.J. Rowland, Omar Samhan, Diamon Simpson, Ian O'Leary, and Wayne Hunters, as well and playing important roles in bring International players Daniel Kickert, Frederic Adjiwanou, and Samuel Saint-Jean to SMC.
Before coming to Saint Mary's, Smith spent one season as the top assistant at the Air Force Academy of the Mountain West Con­ference. During his only season with the Fal­cons, Smith served as the offensive co­or­di­nator, recruiting coordinator, and helped with player de­vel­opment and scouting. He was able to attract A. J. Kuhle, Antoine Hood, and Nick Welch to Air Force, and all three went on to have standout careers at the Academy. They were the nucleus of Air Force's Mountain West Conference championship team in 2004, the first in 40 years for the Falcons. Welch was the MWC Player of the Year, Hood became an All-MWC selection at guard, and Kuhle led the country in minutes played.
Before joining the Academy, Smith served an eight-year stint at the University of San Di­ego, beginning his coaching career under Hank Egan from 1992-94. He then served the next six years at San Diego under head coach Brad Holland. During his time at USD, Smith helped lead the team to the sec­ond most vic­to­ries in school history from 1999-01. As the ssso­ciate head coach, USD's de­fense led the WCC in fewest points allowed (62.6 ppg) and was also ranked among the top-20 in the coun­try in re­bounding mar­gin in 2001.
Smith is regarded as on of the most respected assists ant coaches in the West. Rated as the No. 8 assistant coach in the country by CollegeInsider.com, Smith has been productive in helping put together teams can endure for the long term.
The 39-year-old Smith is a 1992 graduate of Hamilton College where he earned a bachelor's de­gree in En­glish Lit­era­ture. Smith was a four-year bas­ket­ball letterman and helped the 1990-91 squad to a 26-1 record, in­cluding a 24-0 regu­lar sea­son, and a #1 na­tional ranking in Di­vision III. As the starting point guard, and team cap­tain as a se­nior, Smith av­eraged 10.0 points per game and led the team in assists, steals, free throw per­centage and three-point accu­racy.
A native of Hous­ton, Texas, Smith earned his Mas­ter of Arts De­gree in Edu­ca­tional Lead­ership from the Uni­ver­sity of San Di­ego in 2000. He is married to Katie Smith, formerly Davis, and the couple has a 1-year old son named Rocco James.
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