CMM_1561

Craig Smith introduced to fans in energetic press conference

The USU men’s basketball publicly introduced Craig Smith as the 19th head coach in a press conference Tuesday morning.

Around 500 fans were present for the press conference. When Smith walked in, the crowd was momentarily dead quiet before breaking into loud applause.

Smith, who spoke for about 30 minutes, including a question and answer period, was very energetic and animated. On multiple occasions, he moved away from his podium as he explained what he was talking about.

USU President Noelle Cockett and athletic director John Hartwell both gave remarks before Smith was officially introduced, and both expressed how impressed they were about Smith and how excited they were to have him as the Aggies’ head coach.

“I can tell you that [coach Smith and his family] are going to bring incredible strength to Utah State,” Cockett said. “Their enthusiasm, their spirit and their ideals, they fit so well with what we are doing here.”

Hartwell spoke extensively about getting the Spectrum Magic back at Utah State.

“One of the things that in my almost three years have continued to hear is ‘we’ve got to get the Spectrum Magic back.’” Hartwell said. “I believe that we have found the person to take us there. Not in peaks and valleys, not once every five years or six years, but to get the consistency of the Spectrum Magic back again.”

As an assistant coach at Colorado State, Smith occasionally watched film of Aggie home games and said he enjoyed the film of games in the Spectrum because of the energy. Smith said he as “pumped” to be the head coach of the Aggies.

The former South Dakota coach knows he has expectations, having replaced a coach that was fired after a 17-win season and getting to the Mountain West semi-finals for the first time in program history. But Smith responded to that by saying “pressure is a privilege” and reaffirming his own high expectations.

Smith said he has big expectations for the program

“I have tremendous expectations for Utah State men’s basketball,” Smith said, “and I will work my hands to the bone to get this program back where it belongs, and that’s on top of the Mountain West Conference.”