Can Kyle Smith Win a National Championship at Stanford?

The college basketball season is officially over and a champion has been crowned. For the first time since 2007, the Florida Gators sit alone at the top of the college basketball world, beating Houston to win the 2025 National Championship. For Florida head coach, Todd Golden, his journey towards winning his first title involves serving under current Stanford head coach, Kyle Smith.

So if Golden was able to turn the Gators around and lead them to glory after spending years learning from Smith, does that mean that Smith himself has what it takes to bring a national title to The Farm?

That answer still remains to be seen but from what he has been able to show in his career, it is quite possible that down the line, the Cardinal could be in a similar position.

Over the course of his career, Smith has developed a reputation for his ability to turn teams around. During his tenure as the head coach at Washington State, Smith took a program that had not sniffed the NCAA tournament for well over a decade, and led them to the second round in 2024.

Prior to his time at Washington State, he turned around both the University of San Francisco and the Columbia University programs, winning the CIT with Columbia while turning USF into perennial 20 game winners.

And in his first season at Stanford, Smith defied the odds in what was expected to be a major rebuilding year, guiding Stanford to its first 20 win season in about five years despite being in a new conference.

Known for his coaching philosophy of 'nerd ball'--which involves using analytics to make decisions, Smith has been able to make that work at every stop he has been at.

As a recruiter, Smith has proven just how talented he is in that area as well. Managing to secure some highly touted prospects throughout the course of his career, and also doing well at landing transfer portal players, Smith creates a welcoming and strong culture that draws players--which is one of the most important aspects of being a college coach.

One example of that was when he was able lure Jaylen Blakes over from Duke. Despite averaging a career high of 3.4 points while at Duke, he burst onto the scene at Stanford playing for Smith, starting every game that he was healthy and averaging over 13 points per game.

Stanford basketball has had some notable stars come through the program, but the team hasn't been able to really reach the pinnacle of success since the mid 2010s-- making the Sweet Sixteen in their most recent tournament appearance in 2014.

But since Smith has arrived, the program has looked like a team that could be ready to compete. Entering next season, the Cardinal have three recruits signed, one of whom was poached from New Mexico after its head coach left for a new job. If that is any indication of the culture that Smith is building, good things could be coming.

Winning a national title is never easy, but Smith is showing that he means business, and while Stanford may not be known as a men's basketball school, Smith is ready to make it one. It may not happen immediately, but given Smith's strong reputation, it would not be surprising if he was the coach that was able to bring a basketball national championship to Stanford.