Nate Smith has 10 years of experience on Sacramento State’s coaching staff, including four years as an assistant (2017-pres.), four years as the director of basketball operations (2013-17) and two years as the team manager (2011-13).
With Smith on the staff, Sacramento State has won at least 13 games seven times in the last nine years, the first time that has happened since the program accomplished the feat seven straight seasons from 1966-73. In addition, the Hornets have won at least one Big Sky Tournament game in five of the last seven years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020). Prior to 2015, the program had won just two Big Sky Tournament games in its first 18 years in the conference.
One of those Big Sky Tournament wins came during the 2019-20 season when the team finished 16-14 overall and 8-12 in the Big Sky. The Hornets won their first round tournament game over Weber State, before their quarterfinal game against Eastern Washington (and the rest of the tournament) was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 16 wins were the second most in the program’s Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the team finished with an overall record above the .500 mark for just the second time in the Div. I era. In addition, the Hornets’ defense ranked fifth in the nation (among 350 Div. I playing schools) and first in the Big Sky, allowing just 59.7 points per game. That was the best mark for the program since the 1962-63 season. Also, the program’s +3.8 rebounding margin per game was the best mark since the 1975-76 season.
Smith was also part of a staff that saw the 2014-15 squad post a 21-12 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Big Sky Conference while securing the program’s first postseason appearance in the Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the team’s first postseason victory in 53 years.
The Hornets have also established a homecourt advantage that has seen the program post a 82-38 combined record (.683 winning percentage) inside the Nest since the beginning of the 2012-13 season. Also, during that time, the team is 51-31 (.622) at home against conference competition.
The Hornets’ overall record of 21-12 during the 2014-15 season marked the first time in the Div. I era that Sacramento State finished above the .500 mark, and first time since the 1988-89 season. In addition, the 21 wins tied for second most in program history (1948-pres.), and the 13 conference victories were the most in school history (regardless of conference). All of this from a program that had entered the 2014-15 season with just three winning seasons in the previous 38 years.
The overall record marked the first time in the Div. I era that Sacramento State finished above the .500 mark, and first time since the 1988-89 season. In addition, the 21 wins were tied for second most in program history (1948-pres.), and the 13 conference victories were the most in school history (regardless of conference). All of this from a program that had entered the 2014-15 season with just three winning seasons in the previous 38 years.
After reaching the semifinal round of the Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets qualified for the 2015 CIT Postseason Tournament, marking the first time the program had qualified for a postseason event since the 1988 NCAA Div. II Tournament, and just the fifth postseason appearance in school history. Sacramento State’s 73-66 victory at Portland in the first round of the CIT marked the first time in 53 years the Hornets had won a postseason game.
Off the court, the Hornets have excelled in the classroom during Smith’s tenure. In fact, as of May of 2020, the Hornets were the only men’s basketball team from a public school in the state of California to earn NCAA Public Recognition honors. The award is given annually to institutions for having Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores that rank among the top 10 percent nationally. Not only are the Hornets the only public school in the state to achieve the award, they received the honor four straight years (2017-20).
In addition, the Hornets have a team overall grade point average of 3.001. Prior to 2014, the men’s basketball program had never posted a 3.0 gpa during any semester in school history.
Perhaps the most impressive of the academic accolades - of the 36 Hornets that have expired their eligibility during Laird’s tenure, 35 have graduated. Five Hornets - Brandon Davis, Ethan Esposito, William FitzPatrick, Bryce Fowler and Spencer Monteiro - graduated in the spring of 2021.
During his first season as director of operations in 2013-14, the program showed signs of taking off when the Hornets not only posted a then school-record 10 conference wins, the team also clinched a Big Sky Tournament berth for the first time since 2006 and won 11 home games. One of the season’s highlights included Dylan Garrity’s 75-foot shot at the buzzer to defeat Weber State, and instantly gain national exposure for the program. Video of the shot went viral and was named the No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays that evening.
In addition, Smith spearheaded Sacramento State’s summer camps four straight years from 2014-17. He also worked the camps in 2012 and 2013.
Smith, who was born in Sacramento, became the Hornets’ team manager the day he stepped foot on campus in the fall of 2011.
He graduated from Sacramento State in 2014 with a degree in kinesiology. Smith and his wife, Anna, have a daughter, Vivienne.
