Men's Basketball Announces Frankoski as Assistant Coach

STANFORD, Calif. – Kyle Smith, the Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men's Basketball, continued to round out his staff with the addition of Stephen Frankoski as assistant coach.

"Steve comes to the farm with a variety of experiences in his field of expertise. He is considered to be one of the best skill development coaches in the game," said Smith. "He has worked in the NBA with the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and Jordan Clarkson."

Frankoski joins the Cardinal after four seasons at Washington State as the director of player development. The appointment reunited Frankoski with Kyle Smith, who was his head coach as a player from 2010-15 at Columbia. He helped guide the Cougars to a 25-10 mark and second-place finish in the Pac-12 in 2023-24. The Cougars received a No. No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the round of 32 with a victory over Drake in the opening round. He was also a part of two NIT staffs with the Cougars in 2022 and 2023.

"Steve is a gym rat that has been instrumental in helping individual players reach their potential," continued Smith. "He understands our program with his time spent as a player for me at Columbia and his most recent stint with us in Pullman. We could not find a more qualified person to help us get to the next level."

Prior to his time at Washington State, Frankoski spent four seasons as an assistant player development coach and assistant video coordinator with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He worked under head coach Tyronn Lue and assistant coaches Mike Longabardi, Dan Geriot and Phil Handy, and worked with a series of high-level NBA players, including Kevin Love, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Kyle Korver, among others. Frankoski helped the Cavaliers to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2017 and 2018.

Frankoski played four seasons for Smith at Columbia, starting 40 of his 95 career appearances. One of the top 3-point shooters in Lions' history, Frankoski ranks sixth in Columbia history with 168 made triples. His 45.5 percent clip from beyond the arc in 2012-13 stands as the ninth-best single-season mark in program history.