Former University of Arkansas standout Christy Smith returns to Fayetteville as an assistant coach announced Razorback women’s basketball coach Jimmy Dykes today.
Smith, an All-American and WNBA player, joins the staff as the top assistant and will work with every aspect of the Razorback program.
“I knew right away when I spoke with Christy that she shared the same passion and commitment to the Razorbacks that I do,” Dykes said. “She knows what it is like to be a Razorback and she has taken that experience as a player and poured it into her coaching career in her home state of Indiana. I feel like Christy is returning to her second home here in Arkansas and I can’t wait to begin working with her. Christy proved herself as an elite level player at Arkansas and in the WNBA and has continued to achieve at that same high level as an assistant coach. She is a homerun hire for the entire Razorback nation.”
Prior to Arkansas, Smith spent three seasons each with Purdue University and Valparaiso University in her home state of Indiana.
While at Purdue, Smith served as an assistant coach. She helped Purdue to three consecutive NCAA Tournament second round appearances during her tenure. Purdue was 77-27 while Smith was an assistant.
Smith served as the recruiting coordinator for the Crusaders and helped a pair of Valparaiso players earn Horizon League honors.
Prior to her stint at Valparaiso, Smith was the head varsity girls’ basketball coach at Harrison High School in West Lafayette, Ind., and before that she served as an assistant coach at Lafayette Jefferson High School and at Lake Country Christian School in Fort Worth, Texas, where she worked with Whitney Hand, a standout player at the University of Oklahoma.
The Oxford, Ind., native has a rich basketball background. In the space of 12 months, Smith led Team USA to gold at the World University Games, Arkansas to the NCAA Final Four and the Charlotte Sting into the WNBA playoffs.
Smith was a four-time honorable mention All-American as a point guard for the Razorbacks, was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times, earned first team All-SEC as a senior after twice being named second team All-SEC. In 1995, she earned SEC Freshman of the Year recognition.
The three-time team captain is eight all-time at Arkansas in scoring with 1,459 career points, Smith also ranks fourth in school history with 507 career assists and third with 239 steals. She is second all-time in made free throws, connecting on 461, a mark that ranks 10th in the SEC as well. Smith finished her collegiate career shooting 83.7 percent from the charity stripe, second best in Razorback history, and holds the single-season school record of 89.9 percent set in the 1994-1995 season, a year she led the nation in that category.
After a stellar senior season, Smith was drafted No. 17 overall by the Charlotte Sting in 1998 where she played two seasons for the WNBA franchise.
Smith was inducted into the University Of Arkansas Hall Of Honor in 2005, the fifth women’s basketball player at the school to receive such an honor.
Smith has two degrees from Arkansas. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 1998 and went on to earn a master’s degree in biomechanics in 2001. Smith has three children.
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