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WNBA’s 20th Season Honoring The 20 Best – Including The Buckeyes Very Own Katie Smith
jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State great Katie Smith has been named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history.
“The 20 women honored today are an extraordinarily accomplished group both on and off the basketball court,” said WNBA President Lisa Borders. “On the court, they represent the absolute best in women’s professional basketball and are in so many ways larger than life. Off the court, they represent their teams, hometowns and communities in which they live and work with the utmost professionalism. And most importantly, they represent the hopes and dreams of generations of young girls all over the world – the future of the WNBA.”
The names to be honored are: The WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon includes nine current players: Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Maya Moore, Candace Parker, Cappie Pondexter, Diana Taurasi and Lindsay Whalen. Eleven former players are also among the honorees: Cynthia Cooper, Yolanda Griffith, Becky Hammon, Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Deanna Nolan, Ticha Penicheiro, Katie Smith, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Teresa Weatherspoon.
Let’s talk Katie!
I personally had the pleasure of including Katie in my weekly feature Making the List. Katie’s influential reach in The Ohio State University and the basketball program is tremendous and quite worthy of proclamation. I also reached out to the New Liberty a spell back asking if Katie (an assistant coach) would be willing to participate in my Ten Questions section. She was more than willing and respectful enough to assure that I received her responses in a timely manner. On a personal note I am grateful to Katie Smith and wish her all the blessings that she receives – and has earned.
Let’s now talk Katie and the WNBA…
PHOENIX – SEPTEMBER 13: Katie Smith #30 of the Detroit Shock argues a call to an official during Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the Phoenix Mercury on September 13, 2007 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Domenic Centofanti/Getty Images)
In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career.
On August 16, 2007 she became the first professional women’s basketball player to score 6,000 career points (ABL and WNBA combined). At the end of her career in 2013 Katie had a total of 7,885 professional career points, including 1,433 from the ABL and 6,452 from the WNBA.
From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for the Minnesota Lynx, where her outside shooting was the central focus of the Lynx and their “high-powered” offense. On July 30, 2005, Smith was traded to the Detroit Shock.
In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to win All Star games as a member of both the Eastern and Western Conference teams. She also became the only player to get championship rings in both the ABL and WNBA – winning her WNBA ring with the Shock.
Smith won the MVP trophy in the 2008 WNBA Finals in the defeat of the San Antonio Silver Stars 3–0.
On March 16, 2010, Katie Smith moved on – signing with the Washington Mystics as a free agent.
On April 29, 2011, Smith was acquired by the Seattle Storm in a three-team trade with the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. At the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game, she was announced as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA – as voted by fans.
On September 11, 2011 Katie Smith became the third player to score 6,000 points in her WNBA career.
In 2013 Smith was picked up by the New York Liberty and announced that the 2013 season would be her last; following the end of the Liberty’s season, she was named one of the team’s assistant coaches.
Just to back-track some let’s remind everyone of Katie’s importance with The Ohio State University:
Katie Smith roamed the Oval and dominated the basketball court in Columbus from 1992 to 1996. She 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 earned two Big Ten Conference players of the year awards as a senior: the conferences’ own award and the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball. She was first female Buckeye athlete to have her number retired. … And was inducted into The Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in October of 2001.
I could add charts with all of her numbers and percentages providing evidence of her greatness and why the WNBA is honoring Katie as one of the Best in their first 20 years. But, clearly, such a thing is completely unnecessary. For all of us who have seen her play – be it in Columbus, or in the WNBA – there is no need for documentation as evidence. Katie Smith is and always will be one of the greatest basketball players ever. Just know how lucky we were to have her as a Buckeye. Her father is an Ohio University alumni … God wouldn’t that have been horrible if she had been a Bobcat?
Katie – you deserve all the wonderful attention that comes your way. Congratulations!
The post WNBA’s 20th Season Honoring The 20 Best – Including The Buckeyes Very Own Katie Smith appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State great Katie Smith has been named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history.
“The 20 women honored today are an extraordinarily accomplished group both on and off the basketball court,” said WNBA President Lisa Borders. “On the court, they represent the absolute best in women’s professional basketball and are in so many ways larger than life. Off the court, they represent their teams, hometowns and communities in which they live and work with the utmost professionalism. And most importantly, they represent the hopes and dreams of generations of young girls all over the world – the future of the WNBA.”
The names to be honored are: The WNBA Top 20@20 presented by Verizon includes nine current players: Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Maya Moore, Candace Parker, Cappie Pondexter, Diana Taurasi and Lindsay Whalen. Eleven former players are also among the honorees: Cynthia Cooper, Yolanda Griffith, Becky Hammon, Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Deanna Nolan, Ticha Penicheiro, Katie Smith, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Teresa Weatherspoon.
Let’s talk Katie!
I personally had the pleasure of including Katie in my weekly feature Making the List. Katie’s influential reach in The Ohio State University and the basketball program is tremendous and quite worthy of proclamation. I also reached out to the New Liberty a spell back asking if Katie (an assistant coach) would be willing to participate in my Ten Questions section. She was more than willing and respectful enough to assure that I received her responses in a timely manner. On a personal note I am grateful to Katie Smith and wish her all the blessings that she receives – and has earned.
Let’s now talk Katie and the WNBA…
PHOENIX – SEPTEMBER 13: Katie Smith #30 of the Detroit Shock argues a call to an official during Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against the Phoenix Mercury on September 13, 2007 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Domenic Centofanti/Getty Images)
In 2005, she became the first American female basketball player to score 5,000 total points in a professional career.
On August 16, 2007 she became the first professional women’s basketball player to score 6,000 career points (ABL and WNBA combined). At the end of her career in 2013 Katie had a total of 7,885 professional career points, including 1,433 from the ABL and 6,452 from the WNBA.
From 1999 to 2005 Smith played for the Minnesota Lynx, where her outside shooting was the central focus of the Lynx and their “high-powered” offense. On July 30, 2005, Smith was traded to the Detroit Shock.
In 2006, Smith became the first WNBA player to win All Star games as a member of both the Eastern and Western Conference teams. She also became the only player to get championship rings in both the ABL and WNBA – winning her WNBA ring with the Shock.
Smith won the MVP trophy in the 2008 WNBA Finals in the defeat of the San Antonio Silver Stars 3–0.
On March 16, 2010, Katie Smith moved on – signing with the Washington Mystics as a free agent.
On April 29, 2011, Smith was acquired by the Seattle Storm in a three-team trade with the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. At the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game, she was announced as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA – as voted by fans.
On September 11, 2011 Katie Smith became the third player to score 6,000 points in her WNBA career.
In 2013 Smith was picked up by the New York Liberty and announced that the 2013 season would be her last; following the end of the Liberty’s season, she was named one of the team’s assistant coaches.
Just to back-track some let’s remind everyone of Katie’s importance with The Ohio State University:
Katie Smith roamed the Oval and dominated the basketball court in Columbus from 1992 to 1996. She 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 earned two Big Ten Conference players of the year awards as a senior: the conferences’ own award and the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball. She was first female Buckeye athlete to have her number retired. … And was inducted into The Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in October of 2001.
I could add charts with all of her numbers and percentages providing evidence of her greatness and why the WNBA is honoring Katie as one of the Best in their first 20 years. But, clearly, such a thing is completely unnecessary. For all of us who have seen her play – be it in Columbus, or in the WNBA – there is no need for documentation as evidence. Katie Smith is and always will be one of the greatest basketball players ever. Just know how lucky we were to have her as a Buckeye. Her father is an Ohio University alumni … God wouldn’t that have been horrible if she had been a Bobcat?
Katie – you deserve all the wonderful attention that comes your way. Congratulations!
The post WNBA’s 20th Season Honoring The 20 Best – Including The Buckeyes Very Own Katie Smith appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...