Indiana Fever forward Charlotte Smith announced her retirement from WNBA.
Smith has played in WNBA for eight years and she played her final season in the summer in 2006 finishing with 1,412 points. However, Smith will continue being the assistant coach for North Carolina women’s basketball team, who are ranked no. 2.
In a press conference, Smith said that many people tried to convince her to change her decision and she knows that she still play on but she is ready to move on to the next phase of her life. She said that she has been part of the UNC women’s basketball staff for 5 years and that made the transition easy.
Fever COO and general manager Kelly Krauskopf said that Smith is true professional and will be missed in WNBA; but since she is such a good coach, it will not come as a surprise to see her on the sidelines in WNBA soon. She also praised Smith for her contribution to Fever.
During her final season, Smith played 18 games with starts. However, Smith suffered from injury and lost her father during the season. Smith signed up with Fever in February 2006. Before that, she played 6 seasons with Charlotte Sting and 1 with Washington Mystics.
Her best professional seasons were in 2004 and 2005. She started every game in each year. She posted a career high of 8.2 points and 4.1 rebound per game in 2004 when she was with the Stings. While in 2005 with the Mystics, she posted 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. She is a 40 percent shooter overall and 35 percent from the 3 point range.
Smith led the Tar Heels to a national championship in 1994 as a junior. She is also a former college player of the year. On December 4, 1994, during her senior year at UNC, Smith the second collegiate women’s player to dunk in a game. She was named the 10th best female athlete in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2002.
Smith is a former college player of the year, and led the Tar Heels to a national championship as a junior in 1994. Early in her senior season at UNC, she became just the second collegiate women’s player to dunk in a game when she did so on Dec. 4, 1994. In 2002, she was named the 10th-best female athlete in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Smith was the 33rd pick in the 1999 WNBA draft and she was picked by Charlotte.