We support Kyle Smith

There are obviously a number of solid and qualified candidates for the UH head coach position but we want to put a plug in for one of the good guys in the business, Kyle Smith, the associate head coach at St. Mary's.

No, we are not his agent, nor are we related -- PTW just feels it's past time for him to be recognized as more than ready for a D-1 head coaching spot. Granted, he is Randy Bennett's replacement if Bennett is ever lured elsewhere but for some strange reason or reasons that never happens. We'll see if 2010 is different.

Here is Smith's 2008 bio from the St. Mary's athletics site:

Kyle Smith, who joined the Saint Mary's coaching staff in 2001 as the first hire by Randy Bennett, enters his fifth year with the Gael 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 the past five seasons, Smith has been a vital component to the Gaels' turnaround. With Smith's help, Saint Mary's scored a school record 2,377 points and averaged 76.7 points per game, during the 2003-04 campaign. The following season, 2004-05, Saint Mary's posted a 25-9 overall record, matching the school record for wins in a season, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, earning a 10-seed. 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. The Gaels would then hold oppo­nents to 64.1 points per game in year two and year four, which were the best scoring defense in the West Coast Con­ference for the third time in four years.

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.

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 under current San Diego head coach Brad Holland. During his time at USD, Smith helped lead the team to the sec­ond most vic­to­ries in school history from1999-01. As the Asso­ciate 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.

The 36-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.

We found the following quite telling -- it's a snippet from a recent newspaper article on the transformation of Omar Samhan from overweight high school senior to possible NBA-er:

Hard work has carried Samhan far
Steve Kroner
San Francisco Chronicle
February 27, 2010

Powerful motivation can come from the smallest of phrases.

Good or great?

That's the line St. Mary's head coach Randy Bennett and assistant coach Kyle Smith used to inspire Omar Samhan when he was a freshman...

...Bennett and Smith had gotten the line from ESPN's Doug Gottlieb, who said it at a St. Mary's camp. Samhan put together a solid freshman season, averaging 9.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and Bennett and Smith wanted to turn solid into something special.

Samhan began going to the gym at 6 a.m. to shoot for an hour and then lift weights for another hour before heading to class. Smith usually accompanied him in those early-morning sessions.

"The night before," Samhan said, "I'd text coach Kyle, 'Are we going tomorrow?' and he'd just text me back, 'Good or great?' and I knew that meant we were on. 'I'll see you at 6.' "

Kyle Smith is passionate about success. Plus, when is the last time a D-1 head basketball coach had a degree in English literature? That cinches the deal.

Yes, we're smitten. Some AD who wants to keep his or her job should be too.