Pam Smith '82
Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University Women’s Basketball Head Coach and Associate Director of Athletics Pam Smith, class of 1982 and architect of the most successful women’s basketball program in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) history, has passed away after a long battle with cancer. She was 47.
“All of us in the Wittenberg community are deeply saddened to learn of Pam’s death late last night,” said President Mark H. Erickson. “Although Pam will be remembered as a legendary coach and professor, her impact reached far beyond the basketball court. She touched the lives of countless students, faculty, staff and alumni. She taught us about courage, commitment, humility and caring. Pam was truly an extraordinary person who embodied all that is great about Wittenberg. It is hard to imagine that she is no longer with us. She will be greatly missed.”
Smith (nee Evans), a 1999 Wittenberg University Athletics Hall of Honor inductee, established herself as one of the premier women's basketball coaches in NCAA Division III during a coaching career that spanned 21 seasons. The seven-time NCAC Coach of The Year compiled a 401-170 record after taking the reins of a struggling program prior to the 1986-87 season, along the way leading the Tigers to eight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, twelve 20-win seasons and 11 NCAC regular season championships.
Wittenberg won just four games the year before Smith accepted the challenge at her alma mater, and she helped the Tigers to seven victories in each of her first two seasons, followed by an 11-win season in 1988-89. That set the stage for a breakout 1989-90 campaign in which the Tigers posted a 26-3 record, including a perfect 12-0 NCAC regular season mark and a first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. Wittenberg, the only NCAC women's program to go undefeated in regular season play (a feat the Tigers have accomplished four times), has not had a losing season since and has not finished lower than third in the NCAC.
Smith's teams won NCAC regular season conference titles in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 and NCAC Tournament championships in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2004. Through the end of the 2006-07 season, Smith ranked among the top 30 active NCAA Division III coaches in the country in both total wins and winning percentage.
In 2004, the Tigers won the first two NCAA Division III Tournament games in school history while advancing to the Sweet 16. The next season, the Tigers extended their conference-record NCAC win streak to 36 games, and on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007, it was declared Pam Smith Day in Springfield, Ohio, after she became just the 21st active women’s basketball coach at the NCAA Division III level to win 400 career games with a 55-39 victory over Kenyon.
Smith also enjoyed a record-breaking career as a player in the Wittenberg Red & White between 1979-82. Smith was selected second-team Academic All-America as a senior after earning team Most Valuable Player three straight years. She was the Tigers' all-time leading scorer until 1989, and she remains the record-holder for season scoring average.
Smith received her bachelor's degree in biology from Wittenberg in 1982 and her master's degree in physical education with an emphasis on exercise physiology from Ithaca College in 1986. From 1982 to 1984 Smith coached at her high school alma mater, Greenhills, in suburban Cincinnati. A graduate assistant coach at Ithaca College in 1984-85, Smith later coached prep basketball at West Essex High School in New Jersey.
Smith added the role of associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator in 1992, and she also served as an instructor in the department of health, fitness and sport. She is survived by her husband, Roger.
Announcements regarding funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
030-07