Stanford Basketball Adds New Assistant to Kyle Smith's Staff

Welcome back to The Farm, Matt Elkin!

Dec 30, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; A view of the Stanford logo on a basketball during the first half of the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Stanford basketball is locked in and ready to go for next season. Despite a second straight 20-win season, the Cardinal fell just short of expectations in year two of the Kyle Smith era, missing the NCAA tournament yet again and instead taking part in the College Basketball Crown, where they fell in the first round to West Virginia.

Eager to return to national prominence in the coming seasons, the Cardinal are wasting no time in getting ready, and are making sure that they have the necessary pieces in place to make that happen.

Adding players is important for that, but it is arguably more important to have a strong coaching staff that can build good relationships with players, develop talent and recruit top prospects. Earlier this week, the Cardinal made an addition to their coaching staff that they hope helps them land top tier talent.

Matt Elkin, a former member of Stanford's staff, has been hired to return to the Cardinal and serve on Smith's staff. Spending this past season as an assistant at Columbia, Elkin returns ready to prove that his season away gave him more tools to succeed at the Power Four level.

Stanford's press release

STANFORD, Calif. –Kyle Smith, the Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball, has announced the addition of Matt Elkin as assistant coach. Elkin returns to Stanford, where he was an assistant recruiting coordinator in 2024-25, after one season as an assistant coach at Columbia.

“Matt returns to the Farm after a successful run at Columbia,” said Smith. “Matt was instrumental to in laying down the foundation in our first season. He is tremendously organized in recruiting which enabled us the ability to land our 2026 recruiting class.” 

Elkin helped Columbia to 16-12 record in 2025-26, marking the program’s winningest season since 2016 when Smith led the Lions’ program. Elkin helped to guide the development of Ivy League Rookie of the Year Connor Igoe and All-Ivy second team honoree Kenny Noland.

“I am so grateful to Coach Smith for welcoming me back in my new role, as coaching at Stanford has always been my dream job,” said Elkin. “There is no better institution in the world combining high major athletic success with world renowned academic preeminence. It is an honor to represent this incredible university and to continue our vision for excellence with Stanford basketball.”

Entering his second stint at Stanford, where he was an assistant recruiting coordinator in 2024-25, Elkin previously helped coordinate all recruiting efforts including official and unofficial visits, off-campus recruiting activities, recruiting databases and scouting services, as well as directing all Stanford youth and elite prospect camps. He also played an integral role in the development of All-ACC first team honoree Maxime Raynaud and helped the Cardinal to a seventh-place finish in their inaugural season in the ACC conference as well as their first NIT appearance since 2018.

“Matt gained valuable experience on the road recruiting and on court coaching at Columbia. Once again, he laid the groundwork for another successful rebuild, as Columbia had a big improvement on the court and they reeled in an impressive recruiting class,” continued Smith. “Matt is a great teammate who was missed by the staff and players alike.  He will be instrumental in our recruiting efforts and team attitude. He will bring energy and enthusiasm to the program every day.”

Elkin spent four seasons at Yale as director of basketball operations. Responsible for all logistics of the Bulldogs’ program, Elkin was a part of three Ivy League Championship teams in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and helped Yale to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2024. Concurrent with his role at Yale, Elkin served as an assistant coach with Team USA with the under-18 team. He helped lead the Cardinal to a gold medal at the 2022 World Maccabiah Games.

Prior to his time in New Haven, Elkin served as an assistant coach at the Windward School in Los Angeles, where he helped the program to a 53-15 record over two seasons with back-to-back state tournament appearances and a CIF Southern Section Division I championship in 2020. He mentored several student-athletes who went on to play college basketball including two five-star prospects in the class of 2022, Dylan Andrews (UCLA) and Kijani Wright (USC/Vanderbilt).

Elkin spent two seasons at Vermont Academy as a varsity assistant coach from 2016-18. Competing in the NEPSAC, he coached 13 players who went on to play Division I basketball, led by McDonald’s All-American and former Vanderbilt Commodore Simi Shittu and Jordan Nwora, who was an All-ACC honoree and NBA Draft pick by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Elkin is a 2014 graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a BBA in Management & Human Resources. He served as a student manager for the UW men’s basketball team during the 2011-12 season, in which the Badgers finished 27-10 overall and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Elkin also served as head manager and student assistant for two seasons at Division III Edgewood College in Madison, Wis., helping the Eagles reach the NACC Championship in 2014.

While earning a master’s degree in Sports Leadership from Northeastern in 2016, Elkin served as the graduate manager for the men’s basketball team for two seasons. In his first year, the Huskies posted a 23-12 record, captured the CAA Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, the school’s first appearance since 1991. During his two seasons, he helped develop five 1,000-point scorers, three first team All-CAA honorees and one CAA Player of the Year, TJ Williams.