Katie Smith

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Katie Smith
Image:KatieSmith2006.jpg
Katie Smith on the Detroit Shock
Position Shooting guard/small forward
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Weight 174 lb (79 kg)
Team Detroit Shock
Nationality Flag of United States United States
Born June 4, 1974 (age 32)
Lancaster, Ohio
College Ohio State
Draft 1st, Post-Expansion Draft Player Allocation, 1999
Minnesota Lynx
Pro career 1996 – present
Former teams Columbus Quest (1996-98)
Minnesota Lynx (1999-2005)
Awards Big Ten MVP (1996)
All-WNBA First Team (2001, 2003)
Five-time WNBA All-Star
WNBA's All-Decade Team (2006)

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

[edit] 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 Lady Chiefs to the Division I Ohio Girls' Basketball state championship game.

[edit] College years

Smith was arguably the finest women's basketball player in the history of the Big Ten Conference. She attended The 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.

[edit] ABL career

Smith played for the Columbus Quest of the ABL, helping the team to win both League championships in its only two years of existence.

[edit] WNBA career

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.

In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to win the All Star game 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 same year.

[edit] International career

[edit] Europe


[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links


Ohio State Buckeyes Men's/Women's Basketball Retired Numbers
#5 John Havlicek • #11 Jerry Lucas • #22 Jim Jackson • #35 Gary Bradds / #30 Katie Smith
Women's National Basketball Association | WNBA's All-Decade Team
Sue Bird | Tamika Catchings | Cynthia Cooper | Yolanda Griffith | Lauren Jackson | Lisa Leslie | Katie Smith | Dawn Staley | Sheryl Swoopes | Tina Thompson

Ruthie Bolton | Chamique Holdsclaw | Ticha Penicheiro | Diana Taurasi | Teresa Weatherspoon (Honorable mention)
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