Playing Career
After excelling as a basketball player at Shelby High School in Shelby, North Carolina, Smith played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, she was selected as women's basketball Rookie of the Year for the Atlantic Coast Conference. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship in 1994 when she hit the championship-winning shot for the Tar Heels at the buzzer. In the same game, Smith tied an NCAA Tournament record with 23 rebounds. She was named National College Player of the Year by ESPN in 1995, was named a first-team collegiate All-American by Kodak/WBCA and the Associated Press, and is one of only two North Carolina women's basketball players to have had her jersey retired. She was named most valuable player of the ACC Tournament in her junior and senior years.She also became the second female college basketball player ever to dunk during a game on December 4, 1994. In 2002, Smith was named to the ACC's Fiftieth Anniversary Team.
After her collegiate eligibility ended in 1995, Smith joined a professional basketball club in Italy. She was named Most Valuable Player of the Italian league's All-Star game for the 1995–1996 season. Smith also participated in the 1996 William Jones Cup as a member of USA Basketball, and was named MVP of the tournament after the USA won the gold medal.
In 1996, Smith was selected by the Colorado Xplosion in the third round of the initial draft held by the newly formed ABL. She played one season with Colorado, then was traded to the San Jose Lasers. As a Laser, she was named to the ABL All-Star team for the 1997–1998 season.
Following the ABL's cessation of operations in 1999, Smith participated in the 1999 WNBA Draft, where the Charlotte Sting chose her with the 33rd overall pick. She played six seasons with the Sting. During offseasons, she interned with the Sting's front office, worked with US Sport Management, Inc., played a second winter season in Italy in 1999–2000, and served as an assistant women's basketball coach at UNC for several seasons. Smith also earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from UNC in 1999.
Smith joined the WNBA's Washington Mystics for the 2005 season. She was briefly affiliated with the Indiana Fever at the start of the 2006 season.
Read more about this topic: Charlotte Smith (basketball)
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