Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player, Smith's primary position was shooting guard, although she sometimes played

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

or point guard. She was the all-time leading scorer in women's professional basketball, having achieved over 7000 points in both her ABL and WNBA career. In 2016, she was voted one of the

WNBA Top 20@20 WNBA Top 20@20 are the Women's National Basketball Association's Top 20 Players of All Time, chosen in 2016 on the occasion of the twentieth season of the WNBA from amongst 60 nominees compiled by the league. The group was to comprise the 20 best a ...

. On March 31, 2018, Smith was named to the 2018 class of inductees for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In the same year, Smith was also inducted into the

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame honors those who have contributed to the sport of women's basketball. The Hall of Fame opened in 1999 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It is the only facility of its kind dedicated to all levels of women's ba ...

Early life

Smith was born in

Logan, Ohio Logan is a city in Hocking. The population was 7,152 at the time of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Hocking County. Logan is located in southeast Ohio, on the Hocking River 48 miles southeast of Columbus. The current mayor of Logan ...

, where she spent her formative years. She began playing basketball as early as the 5th grade on a boys' team and took

tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perf ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

lessons as a youngster. She grew up in a family of student-athletes. Her father, John Jr., played football at

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

(OU), and won three

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in the 1960s before becoming a dentist. Her younger brother, Tom, earned three

s playing football at

as well as being a member on their

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

team. Tom won the 1996

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

championship in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

. Her older brother, John, was a member of one of 11

University of Mount Union The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate ...

football teams that won the NCAA Division III title. He now is the head football coach at

Bexley High School Bexley High School (BHS) is a public high school located in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Athletics Bexley’s athletic program includes teams in the following sports: Football, Basketball, Baseball, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Field ...

High school career

At Logan High School she was named the national

Gatorade National Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

during her senior year as she guided the Lady Chieftains to the Division I Ohio Girls' Basketball state championship game. Smith was named a High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the inaugural WBCA High School All-America Game in 1992, scoring fourteen points, and earning MVP honors.

College career

Smith attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in Columbus, Ohio from 1992 to 1996, and helped lead the Buckeyes to a

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship and the NCAA title game her

freshman year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

. During her career at OSU, Smith broke the Big Ten scoring record for points scored in a career, in men's or women's basketball. She earned two

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

player of the year awards as a senior: the conference's own award and the ''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Basketball. Smith graduated in 1996 with a degree in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

. On January 21, 2001, Ohio State honored her as the first female Buckeye athlete to have her number retired. She was also inducted into the

Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame The Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame is the athletic hall of fame for The Ohio State University. Its purpose is to recognize individuals who have contributed to the honor and fame of the university in the field of athletics. An athlete must h ...

in October 2001.

Ohio State statistics

Source

Professional career

ABL

Smith played for the

Columbus Quest The Columbus Quest was a professional women's basketball franchise located in Columbus, Ohio in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL). They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996. In the league's b ...

of the ABL, helping the team to win both League championships in its only two full seasons of existence.

WNBA

In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career. On August 16, 2007 she became the first professional women's basketball player to score 6,000 career points (ABL and WNBA combined). At the end of her career in 2013 Katie had a total of 7,885 professional career points, including 1,433 from the ABL and 6,452 from the WNBA. From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for the Minnesota Lynx, where her outside shooting was the central focus of the Lynx offense. On July 30, 2005, Smith was traded to the Detroit Shock along with the Lynx's 2006 second round pick, for

Chandi Jones Chandi Jones (born March 25, 1982) is a professional basketball player. Jones is the daughter of Janice and David Jones , a former professional football player who later became a collegiate basketball coach. High school Born in Wharton, Texas, Jo ...

Stacey Thomas Stacey Thomas (born August 29, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. Career Thomas attended college at University of Michigan and graduated in 2000. She was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 1997 and Big Ten Defen ...

and the Shock's 2006 first round draft pick. In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to win All Star games as a member of both the Eastern and Western Conference teams. She also became the only player to earn both ABL and WNBA championship rings when the Shock won the WNBA title, defeating the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mona ...

, the same year. Smith was the MVP of the 2008 WNBA Finals, when the Detroit Shock beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 3–0. On March 16, 2010, Katie Smith signed a contract with the Washington Mystics as a free agent. On April 29, 2011, Smith was acquired by the Seattle Storm in a three-team trade with the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. At the

2011 WNBA All-Star Game The 2011 WNBA All-Star Game was played on July 23, 2011 (3:30pm EDT on ABC) at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, home of the San Antonio Silver Stars. The game was the 10th WNBA All-Star Game, which has been held annually since 1999 except ...

, she was announced as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA as voted by fans. On September 11, 2011 Katie Smith became the third player to score 6,000 points in her WNBA career. In 2013, Smith was picked up by the New York Liberty and announced that the 2013 season would be her last.

Europe

During the 2001–02 season she played for Polish

Lotos Gdynia Arka Gdynia is a Polish professional women's basketball club. It was founded in 1946 in the city of Gdańsk as Spójnia Gdańsk. In 1992 the club moved from Gdańsk to Gdynia and changed the name to Bałtyk Gdynia. Then it changed its name severa ...

. They reached the final of EuroLeague Women. In 2009, she played for Turkish Fenerbahçe Istanbul.

National team career

Smith was chosen to join the team which was invited to the 1993 U19 World Championship (then called the Junior World Championship). The team won five games and lost two, but that left them in seventh place. Smith was the second leading scorer for the team with 9.9 points per game Smith represented the US at the 1995 World University Games held in Fukuoka, Japan in August and September 1995. The team had a record of 5–1, securing the silver medal. The USA team won early and reached a record of 5–0 when the USA beat Yugoslavia. In the semi-final game, the USA faced Russia. The team was behind much of the first half but managed to tie the game at the half. The USA broke the game open in the second half and won 101–74. The gold medal match was against unbeaten Italy. The Italian team started strong, scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the contest.

Sylvia Crawley Sylvia Crawley (born September 27, 1972) is a former American professional women's basketball forward, licensed minister and motivational speaker. She was also the head women's basketball coach of the Boston College Eagles, from 2008 to 2012, and ...

scored eight consecutive points to end the first half, but that left the USA nine points behind. The USA took a small lead in the second half, but the team from Italy responded with a ten-point run, and won the game and the gold medal by a score of 73–65. Smith averaged 4.4 points per game during the event. Smith was invited to be a member of the Jones Cup team representing the US in 1996. She helped the team to a 9–0 record, and the gold medal in the event. Smith averaged 6.8 points per game. As a member of the USAB women's senior national team, Smith helped the US earn the gold medals in the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, 2004 and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Olympics as well as the 1998 and 2002

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Smith was named to the USA national team in 1998. The national team traveled to Berlin, Germany in July and August 1998 for the FIBA World Championships. The USA team won a close opening game against Japan 95–89, then won their next six games easily. In the semifinal game against Brazil, the USA team was behind as much as ten points in the first half, but the USA went on to win 93–79. The gold medal game was a rematch against Russia. In the first game, the USA team dominated almost from the beginning, but in the rematch, the team from Russia took the early lead and led much of the way. With under two minutes remaining, the USA was down by two points but the USA responded, then held on to win the gold medal 71–65. Smith averaged 9.3 points per game.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, align="left" ,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 30 , , 29 , , 32.4 , , .387 , , .382 , , .766 , , 2.9 , , 2.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 1.83 , , 11.7 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 37.3° , , .421 , , .379 , , .869 , , 2.9 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 2.38 , , 20.2 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" ,

, 32 , , 32 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 38.6° , , .393 , , .354 , , .895 , , 3.8 , , 2.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 2.72 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 23.1° , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,

, 31 , , 31 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 36.7° , , .404 , , .330 , , .824 , , 3.0 , , 2.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 2.26 , , 16.5 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 34.9 , , .457 , , .390 , , .881 , , 4.1 , , 2.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 1.97 , , 18.2 , - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,

, 23 , , 23 , , 34.8 , , .431 , , .432 , , .899 , , 3.7 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 2.22 , , 18.8 , - , align="left" , 2005* , align="left" ,

, 23 , , 23 , , 33.3 , , .383 , , .337 , , .789 , , 2.4 , , 2.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 2.35 , , 13.3 , - , align="left" , 2005* , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, 13 , , 9 , , 30.3 , , .374 , , .327 , , .765 , , 2.2 , , 2.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 1.31 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" , Total , style="background:#D3D3D3", 36° , , 32 , , 32.3 , , .380 , , .333 , , .782 , , 2.3 , , 2.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 2.00 , , 11.9 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 33.4 , , .407 , , .366 , , .912 , , 2.7 , , 3.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 1.91 , , 11.7 , - , align="left" , 2007 , align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 34.3 , , .361 , , .311 , , .847 , , 3.8 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.74 , , 13.2 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 34 , , 34 , , 33.9 , , .383 , , .360 , , .887 , , 2.8 , , 4.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 2.35 , , 14.7 , - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

, 27 , , 27 , , 33.1 , , .435 , , .432 , , .918 , , 2.3 , , 2.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 2.30 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , 2010 , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 33 , , 33 , , 30.8 , , .395 , , .362 , , .764 , , 2.1 , , 2.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 1.61 , , 9.5 , - , align="left" , 2011 , align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 34 , , 3 , , 25.1 , , .395 , , .395 , , .857 , , 2.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 1.32 , , 7.5 , - , align="left" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, align="left" ,

, 34 , , 31 , , 27 , , .412 , , .4 , , .838 , , 2.7 , , 2.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.5 , , 6.7 , - , align="left" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, align="left" , New York , 34 , , 30 , , 26.6 , , .374 , , .315 , , .848 , , 1.9 , , 1.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 1.26 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 14 years, 4 teams , 448 , , 409 , , 33.1 , , .405 , , .369 , , .859 , , 2.9 , , 2.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 1.99 , , 13.9

Postseason

, - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , 3 , , style="background:#D3D3D3", 40.0° , , .429 , , .357 , , .917 , , 4.3 , , 3.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.67 , , 17.3 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 33.5 , , .269 , , .200 , , 1 , , 3.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 1 , , 10.5 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , 10 , , 36.8 , , .436 , , .4 , , .735 , , 2.5 , , 4.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.40 , , 14.7 , - , align="left" , 2007 , align="left" ,

, 11 , , 11 , , 35.7 , , .341 , , .342 , , .760 , , 3.2 , , 3.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 2.27 , , 12.2 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 9 , , 9 , , 34.3 , , .410 , , .354 , , .758 , , 4.0 , , 2.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 1.78 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" , 2010 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 27.5 , , .333 , , .143 , , .833 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.50 , , 7.0 , - , align="left" , 2011 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , 0 , , 25.3 , , .174 , , .286 , , 1 , , 3 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 0 , , 0.67 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 3 , , 37.3 , , .455 , , .4 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , 2 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.67 , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 8 years, 4 teams , 43 , , 40 , , 34.9 , , .381 , , .345 , , .784 , , 3.2 , , 3 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.98 , , 12.8

Coaching career

Following the end of the Liberty's 2013 season, she was named one of the team's assistant coaches, replacing the departing Taj McWilliams-Franklin. Smith was named associate head coach of the New York Liberty for the 2016 season. She was elevated to head coach in October 2017. She was the head coach in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, but her contract was not renewed for 2020. Smith then became the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx.

Coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, 34, , 7, , 27, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed Playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", NYL , style="text-align:left;",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, 34, , 10, , 24, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed Playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , , , 68, , 17, , 51, , , , , , 0, , 0, , 0, ,

References

External links

WNBA Player Profile

Olympic Player Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Katie 1974 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Ohio Columbus Quest players Detroit Shock players Fenerbahçe women's basketball players LGBT basketball players LGBT people from Ohio Lesbian sportswomen Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Minnesota Lynx players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees New York Liberty coaches New York Liberty head coaches Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) People from Fairfield County, Ohio People from Logan, Ohio Shooting guards Small forwards Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade silver medalists for the United States Washington Mystics players Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade United States women's national basketball team players

Early life

High school career

College career

Ohio State statistics

Professional career

ABL

WNBA

Europe

National team career

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Coaching career

Coaching record

See also

References

External links