Katie Smith
From Hoopedia
Katherine May “Katie” Smith (born June 4, 1974 in Lancaster, Ohio) is a professional basketball player for the Detroit Shock in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her primary position is shooting guard. Sometimes she plays small forward.
Contents |
College
Smith was arguably the finest women's basketball player in the history of the Big Ten Conference. She attended Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio from 1992 to 1996, and helped lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten championship and the NCAA title game her freshman 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 was voted Big Ten MVP as a senior.
Smith graduated in 1996 with a degree in zoology. 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 in October of 2001. ABL career
Smith played for the Columbus Quest of the ABL, helping the team to win both League championships in its only two full seasons of existence.
ABL
Smith played for the Columbus Quest of the ABL, helping the team to win both league championships in its only two full seasons of existence.
WNBA
Smith currently plays for the Detroit Shock in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career.
From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for the WNBA's 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, Stacey Thomas and the Shock's 2006 first round draft pick.
On July 7, 2001 Smith, playing for the Minnesota Lynx, set the WNBA single-game scoring record with a 46-point performance, including six three-pointers, in a 100-95 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.
In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to be on the winning sides of both the Eastern and Western conference WNBA All Star teams game. 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, in 2006.
International
- Smith helped the US earn the gold medals in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics as well as the 1998 and 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women.
- She played the 2001-2002 season in Lotos Gdynia, the Polish club of Małgorzata Dydek. They reached the EuroLeague Women finals.
Personal
Smith spent her formative years in Logan, Ohio. She grew up in a family of student-athletes. She began playing basketball as early as the 5th grade on a boys team and took tap dance and ballet lessons as a youngster. In high school she was named the national Gatorade Player of the Year during her senior year as she guided the Logan Lady Chiefs to the Division I Ohio Girls' state basketball championship game.
Her father (John, Jr.), played football at Ohio University, and won three varsity letters in the 1960s before becoming a dentist. Her younger brother, Tom, earned three varsity letters playing football at Ohio, as well as being a member on their track and field team. Tom won the 1996 Mid-American Conference championship in the discus throw. Her older brother, John III, was a member of one of many Mount Union College football teams that won the NCAA Division III title.
