ATLANTA – Washington State Men's Basketball Head Coach Kyle Smith was named to the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List presented by AXIA Time, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday morning. Smith has guided WSU to its best season in the Pac-12 era and a 20-win regular season for the first time since 2007-08.
Coach Smith is the first Cougar men's basketball coach to earn the recognition since Tony Bennett won the 2007 Naismith National Coach of the Year, following a second-place finish in the Pac-10 and an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1993-94.