Stephany Smith Named Alabama Head Women's Basketball Coach
4/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Stephany Smith Fact Sheet
PHOTOS: Smith Meets Her New Team
PHOTOS: Introduction at Press Conference
TUSCALOOSA - On the opening day of the NCAA's spring national signing period the University of Alabama women's basketball program added a blue-chip signee as UA Athletic Director Mal Moore introduced Stephany Smith as the head coach of the Crimson Tide women's basketball team on Wednesday afternoon.
Smith, who fills the vacancy left by the retirement of legendary Bama head coach Rick Moody in mid-March, becomes the seventh head coach in the 31-year history of the Alabama women's basketball program. She takes over the Crimson Tide following an eight-year stint as head coach at Middle Tennessee State University, where her teams compiled a 153-88 overall record.
"We are excited to have a proven winner, a young coach we think can revive our proud program," said Moore. "Stephany brings the attributes of a winner to our program. She has a relentless work ethic and is an outstanding recruiter with people-person qualities. All of those traits will pay dividends for our program and this department. One doesn't have to look very far to see that Baylor, the current NCAA women's basketball champion, had won only seven games just five years ago. They reached the pinnacle of women's basketball very quickly and that is the type of program we would like to emulate. I would like to thank Marie Robbins and Wendell Hudson for their extensive help as we worked through this hiring process."
A rising star in the collegiate coaching ranks, Smith has been successful as both an assistant and head coach at the Division I level. During her tenure at MTSU, she guided the Lady Raiders to the postseason five times including three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Smith led her MTSU squads to 48 victories over the past two seasons posting back-to-back 24 win campaigns. Her last two Lady Raider teams also captured Sun Belt Conference tournament crowns and recorded upset victories in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament over ACC powers North Carolina (2004) and North Carolina State (2005).
"To tell the truth," said Smith, "This has always been a dream job of mine. Very few people in any profession ever have the opportunity to work at their dream job so I am obviously thrilled to be here at Alabama. The chance to coach at a place with so much tradition and rich athletic history is truly exciting. I am looking forward to competing against the nation's best programs in the SEC. This job is perfect for me in many ways, especially because it puts me close to the thing that is extremely important to me and that is my family."
A native of Brookhaven, Miss., Smith graduated from Harding University in Searcy, Ark., with a bachelor's degree in 1988 before earning her master's in education from Harding in 1989. After a year as a graduate assistant with Harding, Smith spent four seasons as an assistant coach at UAB before joining the MTSU staff in 1993 as an assistant coach. At Middle Tennessee, she served three years as an assistant before being elevated to associate head coach for one year prior to taking over the Lady Raider program in 1997. Teams Smith has been associated with have amassed a 279-167 all-time record in 15 years at the Division I level.
Smith's Middle Tennessee teams have truly been a success story. In her eight seasons at the helm, MTSU posted winning records every year including a pair of 20+ win seasons. Her squads captured a pair of regular season conference crowns in addition to winning three league tournament titles. The Lady Raiders posted Top Four conference finishes seven times and Smith owns an 84-42 career record in conference play in the Ohio Valley (OVC) and the Sun Belt Conferences.
Under Smith's guidance, her players have earned eight first-team All-Conference accolades one second-team selection and eight honorable mention honors. She has also coached four All-Freshmen honorees including a pair of Freshman of the Year selections. Eleven times her players have been named to the conference's All-Tournament team including four MVP selections. Smith has mentored the league Defensive Player of the Year three times. Her pupils have also garnered 22 Academic All-Conference recognitions. Three of her former players have continued their playing careers professionally and one, Joanne Aluka, played in the 2004 Summer Olympics for Nigeria.
Prior to coaching, Smith was a standout player at both Harding and Copiah-Lincoln Junior College in Wesson, Miss. She is the daughter of Ralph and Betsy Smith and has three brothers (Ralph, Richard and Cameron) and a sister (Sydney).
