Illinois State has dismissed head women’s basketball coach Barb Smith. ISU AD Larry Lyons released the following statement earlier today:

We believe a change in direction of the program is necessary. Decisions such as this are very difficult, and we do not make them without very thoughtful consideration. Barb and her staff worked very hard and are well respected on campus and in the community. While many of our evaluation parameters are positive, the competitive results on the basketball floor are not where they need to be.

“Our expectations for our women’s basketball program are to compete for Missouri Valley Conference championships and postseason opportunities. We will continue to excel in the classroom and will be leaders on campus and in our community. We will honor all terms of Barb’s contract and thank her for everything she has done for our women’s basketball student-athletes. We wish her the best moving forward, and we will begin the process to find our next head coach immediately.”

Smith went 28-93 in her four seasons at Illinois State. The former head coach at San Diego State (1997-2002), Smith has also served as an assistant at Minnesota, St. Louis, Cal, and Colorado.

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