Basketball Coach Smith Means Business

Kyle Smith is one dapper man

When you get the chance, get yourself on the internet and look this chap up on Google Images. You’re going to want a mental image.

Just look at that face­—that charming grin and that fabulous little butt chin of his. That, my friends, is the face of a champion.

Fact.

On Monday, Columbia’s men’s basketball team pounded Maryland Eastern Shore to the ground with a stunning 108-74 win. That whopping score of 108? That’s the highest number of points Columbia’s ever scored in a home opener. It’s also the highest we’ve scored at home against any Division I team—ever (fun fact). When’s the last time we owned like that?!

Now, I know the boys out on the court deserve some credit. Prime example? Freshman Steve Frankoski. On Monday, the Lion rookie delivered a particularly stellar debut on the home court. If you were at the game, you defs remember that stretch of time in the middle of the first half when Frankoski decided to be a BEAST and score not one, not two, but 15 points. Thanks to Frankoski’s seven minutes of domination, the Lions got a 38-15 lead over Maryland. Incredible, really.

But let’s talk more about Coach Smith. I’m pretty sure he deserves some sort of solid handshake, or at least an honorable mention in my sports column.

Before last night, I hadn’t paid much attention to Smith­—not gonna lie. Maybe my quasi band-wagoning makes me kind of a lame sports fan, but that’s just my style. So naturally after Monday’s game, I thought to myself, “Mmmm Kyle Smith? Let me check this bro out. He’s probably a good person to know about.”

That’s when I decided to ditch my lab report and do some detective work. I did a little cyber investigation and got some deets to share. (He doesn’t have a Facebook. I already checked). Gather round—it’s story time!

So basically there are a few things you should know about Coach Smith.

1: He’s kind of a magician

2: In his golden college days, he meant business in basketball

3: He still means business in basketball

After Monday night’s victory, I kind of suspected that Coach Smith was something special. Research of Smith’s past as a basketball coach confirms the supposition. Kyle Smith is definitely a magician.

Fresh off helping the basketball squad at Saint Mary’s break the top 25 in the 2009-2010 season, Smith is clearly ready to work his wizardly charms at Columbia. During his time at Saint Mary’s, Smith earned national attention as the top assistant coach after the squad beat No. 7 Richmond and No. 2 Villanova in the NCAA tournament. The season before Smith’s time at Saint Mary’s, the Gaels had only won two games. Smith steps in and BAM, the team wins 81 games in three years and breaks into the top 25. Magician? I think yes.

But it all started way back in his day as a college basketball player. In the golden years that were the early nineties, Smith played for Hamilton College. In his junior season, he helped lead the Continentals to a 26-1 record and a No. 1 ranking in NCAA’s Division III. Coach Smith’s success in college basketball clearly began well before Columbia and even before Saint Mary’s.

Since the end of those college years, Smith worked his buns off to get where he is now. After all, the man wanted to be a basketball coach since the ninth grade. That’s the type of dedication we need in Columbia athletics. Now we got some. Finally.

Let’s take a step back from all this and ponder a bit.

Coach Smith seems legit, and he has the potential to give Columbia basketball the push that it needs to be great. If the press releases and the hype around Smith’s appointment to the position last season didn’t convince you of this, Monday night’s game definitely should have. Knowing this, here’s the important thing to remember: we can’t get our panties in a bunch, gang. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves is really what I’m saying.

Here’s why: Last night was one win. There are more coming, you can be assured. But it takes a long time to become a top team. Smith and the boys seem to be getting their stuff together quite nicely, so the thing for us fans to do now is wait it out and cheer ‘em on. There’s no reason Columbia can’t make the same turnaround that Saint Mary’s did with Smith’s help, but it will take more than one game and probably more than one season. No worries, though, there is more fun to be had by all this basketball season. Monday night’s game was only the beginning.