Charlotte Smith (basketball)

Charlotte Smith (born August 23, 1973) is a retired American professional women's basketball player for the Charlotte Sting, Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever in the WNBA, and for the Colorado Xplosion and San Jose Lasers in the ABL. She is currently the women's basketball head coach at Elon University.

Charlotte Smith

Elon Phoenix
Position	Head coach
League	Colonial Athletic Association
Personal information
Born	(1973-08-23) August 23, 1973 Shelby, North Carolina, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	148 lb (67 kg)
Career information
High school	Shelby (Shelby, North Carolina)
College	North Carolina (1991–1995)
WNBA draft	1999: 3rd round, 33rd overall pick
Selected by the Charlotte Sting
Playing career	1996–2006
Position	Forward
Coaching career	2002–present
Career history
As player:
1996–1997	Colorado Xplosion
1997–1998	San Jose Lasers
1999–2004	Charlotte Sting
2005	Washington Mystics
2006	Indiana Fever
As coach:
2002–2011	North Carolina (assistant)
2011–present	Elon
Career highlights and awards
As player: ABL All-Star (1998) First-team All-American – AP (1995) Kodak All-American (1995) All-American – USBWA (1995) NCAA champion (1994) NCAA final Four MOP (1994) 2× First-team All-ACC (1994, 1995) 2× ACC tournament MVP (1994, 1995) ACC Rookie of the Year (1992) ACC All-Freshman team (1992) As coach: CAA Coach of the Year (2017)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Women's Basketball Representing United States U18 and U19 1992 U18 Guanajuato, Mexico Team Competition World University Games 1995 Fukuoka, Japan Team Competition Jones Cup 1996 Taipei, Taiwan Team Competition

Playing career

After excelling as a basketball player at Shelby High School in Shelby, North Carolina, Smith played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, she was selected as women's basketball Rookie of the Year for the Atlantic Coast Conference. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 1994 when she hit the championship-winning shot for the Tar Heels at the buzzer. In the same game, Smith tied an NCAA Tournament record with 23 rebounds. She was named National College Player of the Year by ESPN in 1995, was named a first-team collegiate All-American by Kodak/WBCA and the Associated Press, and is one of only two North Carolina women's basketball players to have had her jersey retired. She was named most valuable player of the ACC Tournament in her junior and senior years. She also became the second female college basketball player ever to dunk during a game on December 4, 1994. In 2002, Smith was named to the ACC's Fiftieth Anniversary Team.

After her collegiate eligibility ended in 1995, Smith joined a professional basketball club in Italy. She was named Most Valuable Player of the Italian league's All-Star game for the 1995–1996 season.

In 1996, Smith was selected by the Colorado Xplosion in the third round of the initial draft held by the newly formed ABL. She played one season with Colorado, then was traded to the San Jose Lasers. As a Laser, she was named to the ABL All-Star team for the 1997–1998 season.

Following the ABL's cessation of operations in 1999, Smith participated in the 1999 WNBA Draft, where the Charlotte Sting chose her with the 33rd overall pick. She played six seasons with the Sting. During offseasons, she interned with the Sting's front office, worked with US Sport Management, Inc., played a second winter season in Italy in 1999–2000, and served as an UNC women's basketball assistant coach for several seasons. Smith also earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from UNC in 1999.

Smith joined the WNBA's Washington Mystics for the 2005 season. She was briefly affiliated with the Indiana Fever at the start of the 2006 season.

North Carolina statistics

Source

Legend

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

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1991–92	North Carolina	31	450	48.6%	10.0%	63.9%	8.1	0.7	1.1	0.4	14.5
1992–93	North Carolina	30	446	45.6%	28.6%	61.1%	9.0	2.1	1.9	0.7	14.9
1993–94	North Carolina	33	513	50.3%	28.1%	70.4%	9.2	2.2	1.4	0.6	15.5
1994–95	North Carolina	35	685	53.3%	28.3%	65.2%	10.7	2.9	1.8	0.7	19.6°
Career	North Carolina	129	2094	49.7%	26.6%	65.2%	9.3	2.0	1.5	0.6	16.2

USA Basketball

Smith was named to the USA U18 team (then called the Junior World Championship Qualifying Team) in 1992. The team competed in Guanajuato, Mexico in August 1992. The team won their first four games, then lost 80–70 to Brazil, finishing with the silver medal for the event, but qualifying for the 1993 world games. Smith averaged 5.2 points per game during the event.

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, with Smith recording a double-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds along with seven assists. 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 was the third leading scorer for the team with 13.7 points per game, and led the team in rebounds with 7.9 per game.

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 9.7 points per game, the highest scoring average on the team, and was named the All-Tournament MVP.

Coaching career

In 2002, Charlotte Smith joined the North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach. Smith would help lead the Tar Heels to four straight number one seeds in the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship from 2005 to 2008. Her teams were ACC regular season champions in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and claimed the ACC Tournament title in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Smith was a part of two Final Four teams while on the North Carolina staff.

On June 22, 2011, Smith was named the head women's basketball coach at Elon University, becoming the sixth head coach in program history. In her first season leading the Phoenix, she set a new school record for wins by a first-year head coach. Charlotte Smith was named the 2017 CAA Coach of the Year and Elon won its first CAA Regular Season title and its first CAA Conference tournament title in Division 1 History. Elon also earned its first bid in the NCAA tournament in school history.

Source:

• Southern Conference
• CAA
• Elon

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Elon Phoenix (Southern Conference) (2011–2014)
2011–12	Elon	16–14	12–8	T-4th
2012–13	Elon	19–14	14–6	3rd	WBI Quarterfinals
2013–14	Elon	15–16	10–8	T-4th
Elon (SOCON):		50–44 (.532)	36–22 (.621)
Elon Phoenix (Colonial Athletic Association) (2014–present)
2014–15	Elon	19–13	11–7	T-3rd	WNIT First Round
2015–16	Elon	18–13	11–7	4th	WNIT First Round
2016–17	Elon	27–7	16–2	1st	NCAA First round
2017–18	Elon	25–8	14–4	3rd	NCAA First round
2018–19	Elon	9–21	4–14	8th
2019–20	Elon	14–16	8–10	T–6th
2020–21	Elon	7–8	3–5	T–7th
2021–22	Elon	17–12	9–9	T–6th
2022–23	Elon	9–21	5–13	11th
Elon (CAA):		145–119 (.549)	81–71 (.533)
Total:		195–163 (.545)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

WNBA career statistics

Legend

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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Charlotte	32	24	23.3	33.0	14.3	70.7	3.6	1.8	0.3	0.2	1.6	5.4
2000	Charlotte	30	7	22.0	35.2	31.6	80.0	3.5	1.8	0.5	0.6	1.6	5.2
2001	Charlotte	30	24	22.6	39.0	31.3	73.4	3.4	1.7	0.5	0.4	1.4	5.7
2002	Charlotte	32	32	27.8	41.0	37.4	74.1	3.8	1.7	0.7	0.5	1.9	8.0
2003	Charlotte	27	9	16.4	31.6	28.1	66.7	2.2	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.9	3.5
2004	Charlotte	34	34	28.7	48.1	50.0	72.6	4.1	1.2	0.5	0.4	1.6	8.2
2005	Washington	34	34	30.5	45.8	42.0	65.2	3.8	2.1	0.6	0.3	1.4	7.2
2006	Indiana	18	2	9.6	30.8	36.4	75.0	1.3	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.7	1.9
Career	8 years, 3 teams	237	166	23.6	39.7	35.1	71.7	3.4	1.5	0.5	0.3	1.4	6.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Charlotte	4	4	26.5	41.9	16.7	81.8	4.5	0.8	1.0	0.0	1.8	9.0
2001	Charlotte	8	8	28.0	29.6	25.0	90.9	4.0	1.8	0.8	1.0	0.9	5.9
2002	Charlotte	2	2	26.5	29.4	0.0	100.0	3.5	0.0	0.5	1.0	1.0	6.0
2003	Charlotte	2	0	3.5	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
2006	Indiana	1	0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Career	5 years, 2 teams	17	14	23.0	34.0	18.2	87.5	3.4	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.9	5.7

Sources

• "Charlotte Smith Bio". Elon Athletic Department. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
• "Charlotte Smith Bio". WNBA. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2010.