Smith is in his 23rd year of coaching girl's basketball, all at Oregon City High School. Grabbing his third WBCA High School Coach of the Year Award (1996 and 1997), Smith's current overall career record is 578-81. So far this season, he has compiled a record of 22-2 and his team has remained in the top 5 of the USA TODAY Super 25 High School Girl's Basketball Poll.

With an outstanding list of accomplishments, including one year at the collegiate level as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt University (1998-1999), Smith has won three (3) USA TODAY National Championships, nine (9) Oregon state championships, twenty-two (22) league championships, and qualified for the state tournament twenty-three (23) times.

"RUSSELL ATHLETIC congratulates Coach Smith of Oregon City High School, the 2004 RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA High School Coach of the Year," said Rod McGeachy, Vice President of Marketing. "We respect the commitment that all coaches make to their team and their sport and we at RUSSELL ATHLETIC are proud to be associated with this special achievement in Coach Smith's life."

Smith has also been named Oregon Coach of the Year six (6) times; USA TODAY Coach of the Year three (3) times; and Oregon State Metro Coach ten (10) times and also serves as the Chair of the WBCA High School All-America Game Committee.

Smith is one of six RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA National Coaches of the Year selected by the Association, which also names winners for each of the five WBCA collegiate divisions (NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, NAIA, Junior College/Community College). Each winner is selected through a two-level process. The first level is by District, in which coaches from each WBCA geographical district vote for their respective top coach. Smith, having been named the District 8 Coach of the Year, advanced as a finalist to the national level of the selection process along with the other eight District Coaches of the Year in High School.

RUSSELL ATHLETIC and the WBCA would also like to congratulate the other eight District Coaches of the Year: Elaine Clement-Holbrook (District 1 - Oliver Ames High School - North Easton, Mass.); Vanessa Watson (District 2 - Malcolm X Shabazz High School - Newark, N.J.); Mike Bozeman (District 3 - Bishop McNamara High School - Forestville, Md.); Andy Nussbaum (District 4 - Naperville Central High School - Naperville, Ill.); Fred Tibbets (District 5 - Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School - Sioux Falls, S.D.); Leta Andrews (District 6 - Granbury High School - Granbury, TX); Don Petranovich (District 7 - Winslow High School - Winslow, Ariz.); Jim Brown (District 9 - Jackson County High School - Gainesboro, Tenn.).

Smith and the national winners from the other five divisions will be presented to the WBCA membership at the RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA Coach of the Year Luncheon on Tuesday, April 6 at 12:00 p.m. at the New Orleans Marriott. The luncheon is part of the 2004 WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Women's Final Four in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game in all of its aspects as an amateur sport for women and girls. For more information about the WBCA, please visit WBCA.org.