Kyle Smith already has a connection to Steve Lavin.
Gary Smith, the father of the new Columbia coach, used to live in the same Marin County neighborhood as Lavin’s parents, Cap and Mary.
The careers of Smith, 41, and Lavin, 46, have also briefly intersected in the basketball world. (more…)
Steve Lavin and St. John’s won’t have much time to recover from their early-morning West Coast loss to St. Mary’s.
After falling to the Gaels 76-71 in an ESPN game that began at 2 a.m. EST Tuesday, the Johnnies had to fly back East and prepare for their home opener Wednesday night with Columbia.
“We wanted to open with this sort of tough matchup, where you get a report card and you can really get to work. I liked our competitiveness and cohesiveness,” Lavin said. (more…)
NEW YORK -- Don’t be fooled by his common surname, Kyle Smith says.
His mother’s maiden name was Zagaroli, his stepfather’s last name is Rosenblum and his son’s name is Rocco.
With those Italian and Jewish roots, the new Columbia coach joked that he can get it done in the melting pot that is New York City.
“We’ll do all right,” Smith said at his introductory news conference Wednesday at Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium.
As reported here late Saturday night, St. Mary’s associate head coach Kyle Smith is moving East.
Smith is the new head coach at Columbia University, edging former New Orleans coach Joe Pasternak and NJIT coach Jim Engles, among others.
“Columbia University is very proud and excited to name Kyle Smith as our head men’s basketball coach” said Dr. M. Dianne Murphy, the school’s AD. “Kyle is an outstanding leader and successful recruiter with a terrific basketball mind. We are thrilled to welcome him to Columbia.”
Smith, who is an 18-year veteran assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level, has worked as the associate head men’s basketball coach at St. Mary’s College (Ca.) of the West Coast Conference (WCC), for the past nine seasons. In 2009-10, the Gaels finished 28-6 and reached the Sweet 16.
“Adam Zagoria sees the story behind the daily happenings.”
~ St. Anthony Coach Bob Hurley
Zagoria covers the New York Knicks and Big East hoops for NBA.com and SNY.tv. He also appears as a Big East Basketball Insider on SNY and 1050 ESPN Radio.
He is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, SI and Basketball Times.
