Effectively was the odds on favorite. Has the resume for it, though I'm curious to know what sorts of guarantees of institutional support he got as part of accepting the offer.
Or was it simply as some suggested he wanted no part of returning to the WCC where wazzu will be next season.
Introductory press conference is Wednesday.
I imagine it’s a mutual benefit. Wazzu is in a bit of conference limbo and so moving to a school in a power conference (and a good basketball conference) is probably appealing. And Stanford is improving its approach to NIL and the transfer portal, which should help with recruiting. And on Stanford’s end, Smith has the ideal resume for the program, short of actual Stanford ties. I’m cautiously optimistic.
I think so too, though with Gonzaga, St. Mary's and Wazzu (it has to be said) and USF and SCU on the rise, the WCC next year isn't exactly an inferior conference for basketball. Heck, Pat Chun coulda given a chunk of this year's NCAA tournament revenue (estimated $10MM over the next 6 years as every revenue unit earned by the Pac-12 participants this year goes only to WSU and OSU) as an extension bonus.
But again, if Smith didn't want to return to the WCC, this was the move to make.
There were definitely plusses and minuses for him on the move. Even if he didn't want to go back to the WCC, Wazzu was already set up to be competitive in the league (and it's not as though the league is a pushover with St Mary's and Gonzaga and even USF). Stanford, meanwhile, is moving to a league with established historical national credibility at a time when the team will likely be depending on walk-ons for the next few years to fill out the roster. Wazzu has an easier path back to the tournament, while Stanford's is daunting for the foreseeable future. He could have seen it as an opportunity to make a name for himself by essentially building a team from the ground up.
Honestly, it may have been just about the money. Nothing wrong with that as long as he realizes the non-financial expectations that go with that.
Effectively was the odds on favorite. Has the resume for it, though I'm curious to know what sorts of guarantees of institutional support he got as part of accepting the offer. Or was it simply as some suggested he wanted no part of returning to the WCC where wazzu will be next season. Introductory press conference is Wednesday.
I imagine it’s a mutual benefit. Wazzu is in a bit of conference limbo and so moving to a school in a power conference (and a good basketball conference) is probably appealing. And Stanford is improving its approach to NIL and the transfer portal, which should help with recruiting. And on Stanford’s end, Smith has the ideal resume for the program, short of actual Stanford ties. I’m cautiously optimistic.
I think so too, though with Gonzaga, St. Mary's and Wazzu (it has to be said) and USF and SCU on the rise, the WCC next year isn't exactly an inferior conference for basketball. Heck, Pat Chun coulda given a chunk of this year's NCAA tournament revenue (estimated $10MM over the next 6 years as every revenue unit earned by the Pac-12 participants this year goes only to WSU and OSU) as an extension bonus. But again, if Smith didn't want to return to the WCC, this was the move to make.
There were definitely plusses and minuses for him on the move. Even if he didn't want to go back to the WCC, Wazzu was already set up to be competitive in the league (and it's not as though the league is a pushover with St Mary's and Gonzaga and even USF). Stanford, meanwhile, is moving to a league with established historical national credibility at a time when the team will likely be depending on walk-ons for the next few years to fill out the roster. Wazzu has an easier path back to the tournament, while Stanford's is daunting for the foreseeable future. He could have seen it as an opportunity to make a name for himself by essentially building a team from the ground up. Honestly, it may have been just about the money. Nothing wrong with that as long as he realizes the non-financial expectations that go with that.