The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday it would not press any charges against USD men’s basketball coach Lamont Smith for domestic violence.
Smith was arrested last month in the Bay Area on suspicion of domestic violence after a woman told police she had been assaulted by Smith. The woman told police she and Smith were intimately involved.
“As a result of the evidence obtained from the investigation, Mr. Smith will not be charged at this time,” the D.A.’s spokesman Alex Bastian said in a statement.
The Toreros had just won a game against the San Francisco Dons the night of the alleged attack to earn the No. 6 seed in the West Coast Conference Basketball Championship. Following the arrest, USD suspended Smith for the rest of the postseason pending an investigation. Assistant coach Sam Scholl took over for Smith in Saturday’s loss to BYU in the WCC tournament.
Despite the D.A.’s decision not to charge Smith, USD said there was no change in Smith’s status.
“He remains on administrative leave and the university’s investigation of this personnel matter is ongoing,” the university said in a statement.”
Scholl will remain the acting head coach, the statement said. USD’s loss to BYU knocks it out of the tournament and the Toreros are waiting for a bid in one of the other post-season tournaments.
Smith is married with two children according to his biography on USD’s website. He took over the basketball program three years ago and this season was the first winning season for the Toreros under his leadership. USD’s 18 wins this season is the program’s most since the 2013-2014 season and this was the first time USD fished .500 or better in conference play since the 2007-08 season.
