For USF’s Smith and St. Mary’s Bennett, a friendship renewed
Contract in hand, Kyle Smith was certain he was making the right decision in late March, leaving his job as Columbia’s basketball coach to take over at USF.
[...] Smith phoned one of his best friends before signing on the dotted line.
Fifteen years ago, with the Gaels coming off a 2-27 season, Bennett became the head coach in Moraga and hired Smith as an assistant.
“For nine years, we were grinding away,” Bennett said in a phone interview.
[...] Smith will take on the task of trying to return the Dons to prominence.
The USF program clearly is in better shape than the St. Mary’s program was 15 years ago; the Dons went 15-15 last season under Rex Walters.
The Dons are trying to elevate their game and join the WCC’s top three teams, a group that has been made up of Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and BYU for the past five seasons.
Making it even harder is the fact Smith’s wife, Katie, played basketball for St. Mary’s and worked in the Gaels’ athletic department.
The Gaels made steady progress in Bennett’s first four seasons, reaching the .500 mark in 2002-03 and the NCAA Tournament in 2004-05.
USF gets a head start on the season with a five-game European tour next month.
The Gaels return their top eight scorers from a team that went 29-6 and tied for the WCC regular-season title.
In addition to Kyle Smith, there’s Rick Croy (Cal Baptist), Eran Ganot (Hawaii), Jim Shaw (Western Oregon) and Lamont Smith (San Diego).
“You like to see your (coaches) move on and get their dream opportunities and be able to capitalize on them,” Bennett said, adding specifically about Kyle Smith, We’re very close friends.
To see him be successful, there’s nothing that is much more satisfying than that as a head basketball coach.
Ferrari returns to Hilltop: USF recently added guard Frankie Ferrari to its roster.
Steve Kroner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.