Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for theOhio State Buckeyes women's basketball team. She is the former head coach of theNew York Liberty.
A retired professionalbasketball player, Smith's primary position wasshooting guard, although she sometimes playedsmall forward orpoint 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 theWNBA Top 20@20. On March 31, 2018, Smith was named to the 2018 class of inductees for theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[1] In the same year, Smith was also inducted into theWomen's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Smith was born inLogan, Ohio,[2] where she spent her formative years. She began playing basketball as early as the fifth grade on a boys' team and tooktap dance andballet lessons as a youngster.
She grew up in a family of student-athletes. Her father, John Jr., playedfootball atOhio University (OU), and won threevarsity letters in the 1960s before becoming adentist. Her younger brother, Tom, earned threevarsity letters playing football atOhio University as well as being a member on theirtrack and field team. Tom won the 1996Mid-American Conference championship in thediscus throw. Her older brother, John, was a member of one of 13University of Mount Unionfootball teams that won theNCAA Division III title. He now is the head football coach atBexley High School.[3]
AtLogan High School she was named the nationalGatorade National Player of the Year 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 theWBCA.[4] She participated in the inaugural WBCA High School All-America Game in 1992, scoring fourteen points, and earning MVP honors.[5][6]
Smith attendedOhio State University inColumbus, Ohio from 1992 to 1996, and helped lead theBuckeyes to aBig Ten championship and the NCAA title game herfreshman year. 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 twoBig Ten Conference player of the year awards as a senior: theconference's own award and theChicago Tribune Silver Basketball.
Smith graduated in 1996 with a degree inzoology. On January 21, 2001, Ohio State honored her as the first female Buckeye athlete to have her number retired.[7] She was also inducted into theOhio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in October 2001.[8]
Source[9]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–93 | Ohio State | 32 | 578 | 50.4% | 80.8% | 5.8 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 18.1 |
| 1993–94 | Ohio State | 28 | 616 | 49.3% | 81.9% | 6.1 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 22.0 |
| 1994–95 | Ohio State | 30 | 639 | 45.3% | 84.4% | 5.8 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 21.3 |
| 1995–96 | Ohio State | 34 | 745 | 43.6% | 87.2% | 5.1 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 21.9 |
| Total | 124 | 2578 | 46.9% | 83.8% | 5.7 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 20.8 | |
Smith played for theColumbus Quest of theABL, helping the team to win both League championships in its only two full seasons of existence.
On May 3, 1999, Smith was selected as part of the league'spost-expansion draft player allocation by theMinnesota Lynx.[10] From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for theMinnesota Lynx, where her outside shooting was the central focus of the Lynx offense.[citation needed]
On July 30, 2005, Smith was traded to theDetroit Shock along with the Lynx's 2006 second round pick, forChandi Jones,Stacey Thomas and the Shock's 2006 first round draft pick. In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career.
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 theSacramento Monarchs, the same year.
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, Smith had a total of 7,885 professional career points, including 1,433 from the ABL and 6,452 from the WNBA.
Smith was the MVP of the 2008 WNBA Finals,[11] when the Shock beat theSan Antonio Silver Stars 3–0.[12]
On March 16, 2010, Smith signed a contract with theWashington Mystics as a free agent.[13]
On April 29, 2011, Smith was acquired by theSeattle Storm in a three-team trade with the Mystics andIndiana Fever. At the2011 WNBA All-Star Game, she was announced as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA as voted by fans.[14] On September 11, 2011 Katie Smith became the third player to score 6,000 points in her WNBA career.[15]
In 2013, Smith was picked up by theNew York Liberty and announced that the 2013 season would be her last.[16]
During the 2001–02 season she played for PolishLotos Gdynia. They reached the final ofEuroLeague Women. In 2009, she played for TurkishFenerbahçe Istanbul.
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[17]
Smith represented the US at the 1995World University Games held inFukuoka, 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 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.[18]
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.[19]
As a member of the USAB women's senior national team, Smith helped the US earn the gold medals in the2000,2004 and2008 Olympics as well as the 1998 and 2002World Championships.
Smith was named to the USA national team in 1998. The national team traveled toBerlin, 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.[20]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Smith won aWNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Minnesota | 30 | 29 | 32.4 | .387 | .382 | .766 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.83 | 11.7 |
| 2000 | Minnesota | 32 | 32 | 37.3° | .421 | .379 | .869 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 2.38 | 20.2 |
| 2001 | Minnesota | 32 | 32 | 38.6° | .393 | .354 | .895 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.72 | 23.1° |
| 2002 | Minnesota | 31 | 31 | 36.7° | .404 | .330 | .824 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.26 | 16.5 |
| 2003 | Minnesota | 34 | 34 | 34.9 | .457 | .390 | .881 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.97 | 18.2 |
| 2004 | Minnesota | 23 | 23 | 34.8 | .431 | .432 | .899 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.22 | 18.8 |
| 2005* | Minnesota | 23 | 23 | 33.3 | .383 | .337 | .789 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 2.35 | 13.3 |
| 2005* | Detroit | 13 | 9 | 30.3 | .374 | .327 | .765 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.31 | 9.5 |
| 2005 | Total | 36° | 32 | 32.3 | .380 | .333 | .782 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.00 | 11.9 |
| 2006† | Detroit | 34 | 34 | 33.4 | .407 | .366 | .912 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.91 | 11.7 |
| 2007 | Detroit | 34 | 34 | 34.3 | .361 | .311 | .847 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.74 | 13.2 |
| 2008† | Detroit | 34 | 34 | 33.9 | .383 | .360 | .887 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.35 | 14.7 |
| 2009 | Detroit | 27 | 27 | 33.1 | .435 | .432 | .918 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.30 | 13.7 |
| 2010 | Washington | 33 | 33 | 30.8 | .395 | .362 | .764 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.61 | 9.5 |
| 2011 | Seattle | 34 | 3 | 25.1 | .395 | .395 | .857 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.32 | 7.5 |
| 2012 | Seattle | 34 | 31 | 27 | .412 | .4 | .838 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 6.7 |
| 2013 | New York | 34 | 30 | 26.6 | .374 | .315 | .848 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.26 | 6.1 |
| Career | 14 years, 4 teams | 448 | 409 | 33.1 | .405 | .369 | .859 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.99 | 13.9 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Minnesota | 3 | 3 | 40.0° | .429 | .357 | .917 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.67 | 17.3 |
| 2005 | Detroit | 2 | 2 | 33.5 | .269 | .200 | 1 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 10.5 |
| 2006† | Detroit | 10 | 10 | 36.8 | .436 | .4 | .735 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.40 | 14.7 |
| 2007 | Detroit | 11 | 11 | 35.7 | .341 | .342 | .760 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.27 | 12.2 |
| 2008† | Detroit | 9 | 9 | 34.3 | .410 | .354 | .758 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.78 | 15.3 |
| 2010 | Washington | 2 | 2 | 27.5 | .333 | .143 | .833 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.50 | 7.0 |
| 2011 | Seattle | 3 | 0 | 25.3 | .174 | .286 | 1 | 3 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0 | 0.67 | 5.3 |
| 2012 | Seattle | 3 | 3 | 37.3 | .455 | .4 | .667 | 2.3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.67 | 9.3 |
| Career | 8 years, 4 teams | 43 | 40 | 34.9 | .381 | .345 | .784 | 3.2 | 3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.98 | 12.8 |
Following the end of the Liberty's 2013 season, she was named one of the team's assistant coaches, replacing the departingTaj McWilliams-Franklin.[16] Smith was named associate head coach of the New York Liberty for the 2016 season. She was elevated to head coach in October 2017.[21] She was the head coach in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, but her contract was not renewed for 2020.[22] Smith then became the lead assistant coach for theMinnesota Lynx.[23]
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYL | 2018 | 34 | 7 | 27 | .206 | 5th in Eastern | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| NYL | 2019 | 34 | 10 | 24 | .294 | 5th in Eastern | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 68 | 17 | 51 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
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