Five potential candidates to replace Kyle Smith as head coach at Washington State

PULLMAN – Washington State is entering a new era, and not just because the program is headed to the West Coast Conference next season. The Cougars are looking for a new head basketball coach to replace Kyle Smith, who bolted for the job at Stanford.

Smith left WSU in a good place. The Cougs made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008, beating Drake on Thursday before falling to second-seeded Iowa State on Saturday. They finished second in the Pac-12. It was their best season since that 2008 campaign.

But now Washington State athletic director Pat Chun and president Kirk Schulz have a decision to make. Here is a list of potential candidates they might call, in no particular order.

An aside: It is possible WSU will promote associate head coach Jim Shaw, but over the last several seasons, he has seemed to like his niche as a defensive guru. A close friend of Smith’s, it’s also possible he could follow him to Stanford.

David Riley, Eastern Washington head coach: Riley, 35, might make the most sense geographically. In Cheney, Riley has guided the Eagles to two straight Big Sky regular-season championships, earning the conference’s coach of the year award in both 2023 and 2024. A Seattle native and Whitworth graduate, Riley would be accepting a bump in pay and coaching pedigree if he took the WSU job.

Riley’s EWU teams also own two wins over WSU: In the first round of last season’s NIT and in the 2021-22 regular season, both in Pullman. He has shown he can beat and hang with power-conference opponents, beating California in 2022 and taking a late lead on Washington a few months ago in Seattle.

The fourth-youngest Division I head coach this season, Riley doesn’t have a ton of head coaching experience. He has spent his entire coaching career at EWU, where he worked as director of basketball operations in 2011-14 before serving as an assistant coach in 2014-21.

Riley’s Eagles teams have disappointed in March, however. As the Big Sky Tournament’s top seed each of the last two years, they dropped their first game in both of those tournaments.

Matt Logie, Montana State head coach: Logie, who left Division II Point Loma to become Montana State’s head man last season, inherited a raw deal with the Bobcats. He took over a decimated roster, whose best players followed former coach Danny Sprinkle to Utah State, and had to rebuild on the fly.

He came up aces. Logie and MSU used a few transfers and a few holdovers to capture the Big Sky Tournament championship, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the 16th-seeded Bobcats fell to Grambling State in a play-in game. Still, it amounted to a success for Loge, who proved he could do two things: Win at a higher level and rebuild a roster.

That might matter at WSU, whose players will have to mull their decisions to stay or leave. Wing Jaylen Wells is considering going pro, which he confirmed after the team’s loss on Saturday, and guard Myles Rice might be a hot commodity if he considers other schools.

The former Whitworth head coach from 2011 to 2019, Logie also spent some time as an assistant at Lehigh, helping that team build the roster that went on to beat Duke in 2012, which stands as one of the NCAA Tournament’s greatest upsets.

John Andrzejek, Florida assistant coach: Last summer, Andrzejek left his assistant coaching job at WSU for an assistant’s job at Florida, which made the NCAA Tournament this season. Prior, he spent four seasons with the Cougs, helping them collect a 69-61 record and a pair of NIT berths.

Andrzejek, who has never been a head coach, helped recruit many of the current Cougars. He was the first Power 5 coach to offer Rice, an All-Pac-12 first-team selection, and he used his international recruiting connections to land players including Mo Gueye, a 2023 NBA draft pick and all-conference first-teamer.

A couple potential roadblocks for Andrzejek’s path back to Pullman: He would be inheriting an uncertain situation, with WSU headed to the WCC on a two-year basis starting next season, and WSU would need to buy out his Florida contract, which he signed less than a year ago. The Cougs might be able to afford to do so, but would they be willing to do it for someone who has no head coaching experience?

Dan Monson, outgoing Long Beach State head coach: Monson, whose Long Beach State team made the NCAA Tournament as a 15 seed this season, was fired as the season came to a close – but he coached out the year. Now that the season is over, he is a free agent, which makes him a possible candidate at WSU.

The former Gonzaga head coach and an Idaho alumnus, Monson helped the Zags reach national prominence in the late 1990s, setting what was a school record with 24 wins in the 1997-98 season and winning WCC coach of the year honors. In 1999, Monson led 10th-seeded GU to the Elite Eight, dispatching Minnesota, Stanford and Florida along the way, losing to eventual champion UConn in a close one.

That spring, Monson ditched a new Gonzaga contract for the head coach job at Minnesota, where he worked eight seasons, eventually resigning in 2006 after a 2-5 start.

Monson coached 17 seasons with Long Beach State, making the NCAA Tournament on two occasions and the NIT on four, winning the Big West regular-season title in four of those seasons.

Mike Magpayo, UC Riverside head coach: Magpayo, who just completed his fourth season as UC Riverside’s head coach, worked on two of Kyle Smith’s staffs, at Columbia and at San Francisco. Last season, the Highlanders came to Pullman, where the Cougs won an 86-49 blowout.

Magpayo may not have many connections to WSU, but he might come with a good recommendation from Smith, who spoke highly of him after that game in December. In four seasons at Riverside, Magpayo has compiled a 68-50 record.

Travis DeCuire, Montana head coach: A Seattle native and former Mercer Island High star, DeCuire just wrapped up his 10th season at Montana, where he has led the Grizzlies to four postseason appearances, including back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2018 and 2019. The Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2018, DeCuire has compiled a 200–123 (.619) record with UM.

Coaching one of the Big Sky’s most consistent programs, DeCuire has proven himself in Missoula. His current contract is up in June 2025, which means his buyout — though with unclear terms — is nearing its lowest point. It might give the Cougars a chance to capitalize.