Katie Smith

Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional basketball player, Smith's primary position was shooting guard, although she sometimes played small forward 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. 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. Early life Smith was born in Logan, Ohio, where she spent her formative years. She began playing basketball as early as the 5th grade on a boys' team and took tap dance and ballet lessons as a youngster. She grew up in a family of student-athletes. Her father, John Jr., played football at Ohio University (OU), and won three varsity letters in the 1960s before becoming a dentist. Her younger brother, Tom, earned three varsity letters playing football at Ohio University 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, was a member of one of 11 University of Mount Union football teams that won the NCAA Division III title. He now is the head football coach at Bexley High School.