Athletes

Katie Smith, a shooting guard/ small forward for the Detroit Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), is a two-time Olympic Games gold medalist, having won both in 2000 and 2004. This season, Smith led her team to win the WNBA championships. Also this year, she became the first player to win an All-Star Game for both the Eastern and the Western Conferences. Smith was recently chosen to be a member of the 2006 USA Women's World Championship Team. In 2005, Smith became the first basketball player to score more than 5,000 total points in a professional career. Prior to playing for the Detroit Shock, Smith played for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA, and before that, the Columbus Quest in the American Basketball League (ABL). While playing for the Lynx, Smith was a four-time All-WNBA and four-time WNBA All-Star. She was selected as the United States Olympic Committee's Female Player of the Month for June 1998 after helping the United States to a gold medal. The team had a 9-0 record at the 1998 FIBA Women's World Championship in Germany. Smith started all nine games and played more than 30 minutes in four of them. This five-year veteran of USA Basketball averaged 9.3 points and 2.8 rebounds during the championships. Over her career, Smith accumulated seven medals while representing the United States in international competition, including two world titles (1998, 2002). Smith led the Columbus Quest to back-to-back ABL Championships (1997, 1998), averaging a team-best 17.4 ppg (seventh in the ABL). Smith ranked second in the league for free throw percentage (.893) and seventh in three-point percentage (.401). She earned first-team All-ABL recognition and made her second-consecutive start in the ABL All-Star Game. She has started every game in Quest history. While at Ohio State, Smith set the Big Ten women's all-time scoring record (2,347) and led the Buckeyes to a 1993 NCAA runner-up finish. She is a two-time All-American and former Big Ten Player of the Year. (10/06)