Dave Boling: Kyle Smith cultivated a winner at Washington State, but all doesn’t have to be lost with his departure

Plowing the fields.

That’s a perfect metaphor for coaching sports at Washington State. Tilling the soil can be hard work. Planting and tending the crops is tedious, and entirely without reward as they mature.

That part of it is an act of faith, really.

No one knows what the harvest will be. Bountiful, disappointing, or even an utter failure.

But it demands the work nonetheless. In some businesses, it’s called sweat equity.

Around Pullman, it’s known as farming.

And at WSU, it’s called coaching.

Knowing Washington State’s history of losing coaches of successful programs, and understanding the voracious piratical hunger of major programs to pillage the coaches who take historically lesser teams to above-expected heights, the vulnerability of Cougar basketball coach Kyle Smith was entirely expected.

News Monday morning reported that Smith was scheduled to take over as coach at Stanford.

Meshing a gang of strangers into a 25-win, NCAA Tournament qualifier put a spotlight on Smith. As his appeal to other employers became obvious, Smith had been dutifully circumspect, saying such discussions would be tabled until after the season.

I didn’t know the discussion would be at my table.

In a short while after the Cougars’ season ended, in a hard-fought defeat to Iowa State in a round-of-32 tournament game in Omaha late Saturday evening, I was working on a column about how this season’s historic success would change the image of WSU basketball. It had been rebranded, and new possibilities would be open to the Cougs.

In an enormous press space near the locker rooms and interview area, I’d set up my laptop and briefcase on a table in a corner near a television where I could watch the broadcast of Gonzaga’s epic thrashing of Kansas in an earlier second-round game.

So, after listening to coach Smith and selected Cougars meet their post-game interview responsibilities, I returned to my work space and found WSU’s veteran associate head coach Jim Shaw set up beside me, watching televised games and eating some manner of pre-packaged, post-game chicken (I think).

Within a few minutes, Smith joined Shaw, across from me. I re-introduced myself to Smith, after having done so several times in group interview sessions in recent weeks.

I shook his hand in congratulations of the team’s success and told him I was doing a column on how it might change the future of Cougar basketball.

“I mean, 25 wins, very impressive,” I said.

He was surprised it was 25. Can a coach be so focused on working for each win that he doesn’t actually pay attention to the total? Maybe that’s a secret to it.

We chatted a bit. It wasn’t an interview setting, so I only asked him once to be on the record, after he brought up the fact that he was already receiving texts from people who were interested in his program.

“Sure,” he said.

I wasn’t taking notes, and because of the nature of our chat, I won’t use any direct quotes. But now that Smith has been hired away, I can write, in general, about his frame of mind regarding his time at WSU.

Two things stick out in my memory.

He wasn’t so disappointed by the loss that night as he was filled with pride in his team. He spoke less out of personal pride than a sense of shared ownership, with the players and university.

He pointed across the table, mentioning Shaw as man who had been beside him every step of the process in Pullman.

“He’s been beside everybody, hasn’t he?” I kidded.

Smith laughed. Shaw had been with Smith all five seasons. But he’d also coached on impressive staffs including those headed by Randy Bennett at Saint Mary’s, Lorenzo Romar at Washington and Kelvin Sampson at Oklahoma.

I wonder, now, if Smith been showing his gratitude and loyalty to his faithful sidekick, or putting in a recommendation for him as a replacement for the Cougs.

More relevant, looking back at the conversation, Smith talked about the process of getting WSU into the NCAAs, mentioning how they had been plowing the fields for five years.

Plowing the fields. Yes, perfect, I thought.

Preparing. Tending. Improving. Feeding and weeding. And the time frame: five years. A long time. Untold dedication to the product. His departure is not without appropriate investment.

Smith will be rewarded by a job at a prestigious university and, we assume, paychecks that represent greater bounty.

The fans who might be upset by his departure are not going to be those wheat farmers of the region, who perfectly understand the dedication of plowing for five years.

As suggested after the game, the reputation of WSU as a place where a good coach can get his team to the NCAA tournament has been established and re-enforced.

The Cougs may lose a coach, but a new threshold of possibility has been established. They can benefit from that. It doesn’t mean they have to go all the way back to ground zero with recruits and national reputation.

They might be able to attract a better new coach than they might have without this season’s successes.

It’s now a fact: A powerhouse basketball program can be established in Pullman.

But it has to be right. Keep building. Be supportive.

After all, you reap what you sow.