Dave Boling: For now, WSU faithful should embrace the Kyle Smith wins rather than sweat about a big potential loss

OMAHA, Neb. – Gobble this up, Cougar fans.

Embrace every minute of it.

Because in the impermanent, turbulent environment that is contemporary college athletics, nobody knows who will stick around to coach and play in the old crimson and gray.

So live it up. Your team has earned it and so have you.

You’ve had to wait a long time for the Washington State men’s basketball team to get back into the NCAA Tournament.

For 16 years, you’ve watched (some silently, others highly aggrieved) as that little Jesuit school up the road hogged the month of March. That couldn’t have been easy.

And you suffered as the exceptional Tony Bennett, like so many Cougars coaches through the years, moved out and up, reinforcing the harsh realities of losing a coach when high-profile programs come calling.

Examples: Bennett and Dennis Erickson went elsewhere and won national titles. Kelvin Sampson hasn’t won a national title (at least not for a couple of more weeks), but got Oklahoma to a Final Four after bailing on Pullman.

You watched Ken Bone and Ernie Kent earn a total of three winning records in 10 seasons after Bennett left.

But they got it right in hiring Kyle Smith, who accomplished something unprecedented in Cougars hoop history: No other coach had gone through his first four seasons with a record above .500.

In the fifth year, the Cougars are not only in the NCAA Tournament, but raced all the way up to second place in Paci-12 standings.

He’s legit. WSU gave him the opportunity and resources, and he built what could be a burgeoning power.

Granted, the timing of this inquiry is indelicate in the midst of the tournament fervor, but you know you’re thinking it: Can WSU keep Kyle Smith?

This year’s team is the well-oiled culmination of what Smith has been building. Disciplined, defensive, efficient and opportunistic. They fall behind but fight back. They adapt to circumstances and counterpunch.

For that work, Smith was recognized as the conference coach of the year and is on the short list for the national honor, too. So, if schools with openings aren’t looking at Smith, they should be.

Smith said recently that discussions about his position have been tabled until after the season. But he’d be a fool not to listen. He’s invested five years in Pullman, nobody could fault him for relocating if the offer were right.

Columnist Jon Wilner just wrote that Stanford should swoop up Smith for its opening.

Others have suggested that the rival Washington Huskies should get in the hunt.

Smith seems a good fit for Stanford. He was an English Literature major at Hamilton College, a Division III school in midstate New York, named in honor of Alexander Hamilton. The mascot is named “Alex,” and the image is worth a Google search

As a player for the Continentals, Smith set the school record for 3-point accuracy (51.3%). So, no, he was not throwing away his shot.

But if he decided to take over the Huskies, watching Mr. Smith go to Washington would have a Capra-esque quality to it, but would be doubly painful for the Cougars faithful.

Is there anything WSU could do to keep Smith? Smith said he was grateful for the administration’s eagerness to keep him. It sounded sincere. But it’s unlikely they could go too many rounds in a bidding war against some of the top programs.

Who can even be sure what the financial situation of the entire department will be in the aftermath of conference detonation?

The entirety of college athletics is on shifting sand. How is one to build and sustain a program amid what is, now, basically unfettered free agency?

Few places have the alumni and fan avidity of WSU. Those folks are fiercely loyal. But the athletic department has always faced inherent impediments. And the fiscal uncertainties of any program not among the upper echelon will be even more dire for those already facing disadvantages.

Here’s what you can count on: Thursday, the high-flying Cougars face Drake in the NCAA Tournament. They will be well-prepared and fun to watch, with a good chance of stretching their stay to the weekend.

Cherish it for what it is – a long-awaited, marvelous moment, regardless what comes next.