New Tyler Legacy boys basketball coach Kyle Smith is pictured with his wife, Whitney, and their three children, Sloane, Cannon and Jett.

Kyle Smith has been named the new head boys basketball coach at Tyler Legacy High School and Dean Nuckolls will join the Red Raiders as an assistant coach, Tyler ISD announced on Friday afternoon.

Smith comes to Legacy after serving as the head boys basketball coach at Northside Warren High School in San Antonio. Nuckolls joins Legacy after two years as the head boys basketball coach at Bullard High School.

Smith has been at Warren since 2010 and has been the head coach sent 2013. Warren had had a 230-117 record, including three district championships, six quarterfinal appearances and three trips to the regional tournament under Smith.

“I am excited to announce Kyle Smith as the new head boys basketball coach at Tyler Legacy,” Tyler ISD athletic Director Greg Priest said. “We talked to a lot of great candidates with strong credentials, and it became evident from everyone I spoke with that he was the right person for this job. Coach Smith is a proven winner and leader, and I can’t wait to get him working with our student-athletes.”

Smith was named the TABC Don Coleman 6A Coach of the Year and SAAABC All-Star Coach for the 2014-2015 school year. Prior to his time at Warren High School, he was the head boys basketball coach at Ganado High School from 2009-10, where he took the team to their first playoff game since 2004 and to their first district championship since 1995. From 2006-09, Smith was an assistant basketball, football and baseball coach at Nixon High School.

“This is truly a significant hire for Tyler Legacy High School on every front,” Stephen F. Austin State University head men’s basketball coach Kyle Keller said. “Personally, I have always been impressed by how disciplined and how hard his teams performed each time I watched them play. I am excited for the community of Tyler. Coach Smith is a proven champion and is lauded throughout our entire state. I applaud the leadership team at Tyler Legacy High School for landing one of the most successful coaches in our state to lead their boys basketball program.”

Smith and his wife, Whitney, have three children, Sloane, Cannon and Jett.

“My family and I are excited to get to Tyler ISD and Legacy High School to build a culture that will allow us to sustain success year in and year out,” Smith said. “We will strive daily for excellence in every aspect of our program that the community and district will be proud to support. Our family cannot wait to join the community.”

Nuckolls went to Bullard before the 2021-22 school year after a 15-year stint at LaPoynor High School, where he won 383 games, advanced to the playoffs every season, lost in the first round of the playoffs just twice, made the regional tournament five times and advanced to the state tournament in 2020.

In Nuckolls’ two seasons at Bullard, the Panthers were 52-12 and won two playoff games. In 2022, the Panthers won their first outright district title since 2008, advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2015 and got their first playoff win since 2010.

Nuckolls’ son, Garrett Nuckolls, the Tyler Morning Telegraph All-Rose Country Boys Basketball Player of the Year, recently graduated and will play basketball at Trinity Valley Community College. Nuckolls’ son, Gage Nuckolls, will be a sophomore and averaged 4.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game as a freshman at Bullard.

Legacy has been coached the past three seasons by Kevin Walker. In 2021, his first season as the head coach, Walker led the Red Raiders to their first district championship since 2006 and their first playoff appearance since 2015. The Red Raiders have missed the postseason in each of the past two seasons.