Sources – Kyle Smith leaves Washington State for Stanford job

Washington State's Kyle Smith has accepted the head coaching job at Stanford, sources told ESPN on Monday.

Smith, the 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, just engineered one of the best seasons in program history, leading the Cougars to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.

The Cougars finished 25-10 overall and 14-6 in the Pac-12, just one game behind Arizona. After they beat the Wildcats in Tucson on February 22, Washington State was alone atop the Pac-12 standings for the first time since December 21, 1986. The seventh seed on Selection Sunday and the first-round win over Drake on Thursday was the program's fifth win in NCAA Championship since 1942.

Washington State's season ended Saturday with a 67-56 loss to Iowa State.

Smith was at Washington State for five seasons, finishing above .500 in the Pac-12 in each of his final three seasons.

Before taking over the Cougars, Smith spent three seasons as coach in San Francisco — where he won at least 20 games in all three seasons — and six seasons as head coach in Columbia. While with the Lions, he led the program to its first 20-win campaign since 1969-70 and set a program record with 25 wins in 2015-16. They also won the 2016 CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament by defeating UC Irvine in the title game.

Smith began his coaching career as an assistant in San Diego and was also on the staff at Air Force and Saint Mary's.

At Stanford, he will replace Jerrod Haase, who was fired earlier this month after eight seasons. The Cardinal failed to reach the NCAA Tournament during Haase's tenure.

Smith will lead Stanford to the ACC, with the Cardinal joining the league this summer along with Cal and SMU.