Barb Smith was named the seventh women’s basketball coach in Illinois State history April 15, 2013, bringing 27 years of Division I collegiate coaching experience.

She brings a tremendous pedigree into her second head coaching job and is known as a prominent recruiter, with over 10 top-20 nationally-ranked classes. With over a quarter century of coaching experience, Smith is a true student of the game. She knows about the rich tradition and is working hard to build on it.

Smith will be entering her fourth season in Normal and will look to build off her third season, which saw the Redbirds quadruple their overall win total and triple their Missouri Valley Conference win total from the year before, as three freshmen were three of the top five scorers and combined to start 72 games. More impressive, Smith ushered seven student-athletes into the program seeing Division I action for the first time, and eight members of the team (out of 11) made the AFNI Honor Roll, with three recording perfect 4.0 grade-point averages. She also coached graduating senior Octavia Crump to become the 28th player in program history to tally 1,000 career points.

During her second season with the Redbirds, Smith coached four players to 20-point games and three to double-double performances. Working with the guards, Smith elevated Katy Winge’s three-point shot. Winge ended her senior season with 42 made three-point field goals, which places her in the upper echelon of ISU women’s basketball history. Smith aided Winge for three years from three-point territory, which was evident as Winge ended her career with the 12th most made three pointers in women’s basketball history.

In her first year at the helm of the Redbirds, Illinois State was a preseason selection to finish eighth in the MVC. With a tough nonconference schedule, the Redbirds defeated Florida at the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas. The Redbirds topped the Gators, 68-64.

The nonconference schedule prepared the Redbirds for league play, as ISU won its first conference game against Drake, 80-71. Illinois State worked through the Valley season and ended the regular season tied for sixth, two spots better than the preseason selection.

ISU went on to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and won in the quarterfinal round against Northern Iowa, holding off the Panthers to win by two, 65-63.

During the Valley season, the Redbirds went 291-of-417 from the free throw line. The team made and attempted more free throws during the conference season than any Redbird team prior. Smith’s focus of hustle and rebounding was also heard by her team, as ISU pulled down 225 offensive rebounds during the conference season, which was the fifth-most offensive boards pulled down by a team during Valley play.

Prior to ISU, Smith spent the 2012-13 season at Saint Louis University as the associate head coach, recruiting coordinator and offensive coordinator. At SLU, Smith directed and organized all recruiting activities, designed and implemented offensive strategies and was responsible for guard development.

Smith also helped lead Minnesota to a 115-75 record and five postseason appearances, including four NCAA Tournaments during her six-year tenure as an assistant coach. The 2004-05 Golden Gophers were 26-8 and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, while the 2007-08 and 2008-09 squads each won 20 games. Minnesota finished among the top five, including a pair of third-place ties, in the Big Ten Conference regular-season standings in five of Smith’s six seasons. In addition, three of the Gophers’ recruiting classes were ranked among the nation’s top-20.

Prior to her stint at Minnesota, Smith spent two seasons (2002-04) as the lead assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of California-Berkeley. The Golden Bears produced a top-six recruiting class under her guidance, the highest-ranked class in program history.

During Smith’s five seasons (1997-2002) as the head coach at San Diego State, the Aztecs landed the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history, which featured guard Claire Swinbank, the team’s first WNBA prospect. Smith also built SDSU into one of the Mountain West Conference’s top-defensive teams, with the 2000-01 Aztecs finishing second in the league in defense.

Smith enjoyed a successful nine-year run (1988-97) as the lead assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado under Hall of Fame head coach Ceal Barry. The Buffaloes qualified for the NCAA Tournament in eight of those nine campaigns, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 1994.

Smith helped lead CU to five Big 8 Conference regular-season championships, four Big 8 Conference tournament titles, a Big 12 Conference tournament championship and a preseason WNIT championship. The Buffaloes tallied a 217-65 record and produced three top-10 recruiting classes during her tenure.

Smith played collegiately at Ohio State, where she walked on, and then earned a scholarship and the starting point guard position as a sophomore. At Ohio State, Smith played for Naismith Hall of Famer, Olympic coach and current Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. During Smith’s playing career, the Buckeyes won four Big Ten championships and made three NCAA appearances. A native of Perrysburg, Ohio, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in health education at Ohio State and a master’s of business administration degree in organizational behavior at Iona College (New York).