Episode 974: Stanford head coach Kyle Smith

Marching to Madness

Coach Kyle Smith comes back onto “Marching to Madness” as the new head coach of the Stanford Cardinal. He built Washington State back into an NCAA Tournament contender as the Cougars were a 7-seed last season and defeated Drake to get into the Round of 32. Stanford hasn’t been in the NCAAT since 2014, but the Cardinal had a run of 13 tournaments in 14 seasons under legendary Mike Montgomery. Coach Smith and the Cardinal open their first season in the ACC after the Cardinal was a long-standing Pac-12 member.

Topics of Discussion include:

• The return of Maxim Reynaud and how his many basketball talents will drive Stanford
• Developing his stellar defensive philosophy with use of the game’s metrics
• Eight quality new players who will fit with Reynaud, Ryan Agrawal, and Jaylen Thompson
• Changing from the PAc-12 to ACC play