Smith takes over Warriors' boys basketball program

Ryan Smith is Fallbrook High School's new varsity boys basketball head coach.

"I'm super excited," said Smith. "I'm exited that (athletic director ) Patrick Walker gave me the opportunity."

"I'm excited to have him and the youth and energy that he brings," said Walker.

Smith has not previously been a head coach, but he was an assistant coach at Vista High School the past four years. Smith also has five years of experience coaching the Gamepoint club program based in Oceanside; he has taught children between the ages of 11 and 17 for Gamepoint.

Coaching was a return to basketball for Smith, who was raised in Cathedral City and was a guard and forward on the Cathedral City High School basketball team. Smith did not play college basketball while he was a student at the University of California, San Diego.

When he was a UCSD senior, Smith asked his high school coach for recommendations about becoming a coach. "I loved doing the coaching and I wanted to stay involved in basketball," he said.

His desire to become a head coach led him to seek the Fallbrook position. He had expressed to the high school basketball community that he wanted to apply for vacant head coaching positions, and when he learned that John Kroeger had stepped down as the Warriors' coach, Smith sought to become Kroeger's replacement.

Some of Smith's Gamepoint players are currently on the Warriors' basketball team, so he had some familiarity with the program. "I love the community, too," he said.

"I think he's going to make us very competitive in the Valley League," Walker said.

That might not necessarily be during the 2017-18 season. A current sophomore is the only one of Fallbrook's 2016-17 varsity players who is on this year's varsity team, which consists of three seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, and two freshmen.

"We're an extremely young team this year," Smith said. "It's going to be a building year."

Approximately 40 players tried out for the program. On the final day prior to the start of play, the varsity roster had 12 players, the junior varsity squad had 11 players, and the freshman team had 15 boys.

"We didn't have to cut very many this year," Smith said.

The Warriors will precede their Valley League opener Jan. 17 at Escondido with tournaments and other non-league games.

"I'm looking forward to the season," Smith said.