Former Ohio State women's basketball star and current assistant coach Katie Smith will be the Victory Bell ringer before Ohio State's home football game against Kent State on Sept. 19.
Smith, a native of Logan, Ohio, led the Buckeyes to the NCAA Tournament championship game as a freshman in the 1992-93 season. She played in 124 games through four seasons and averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game on 46.9% shooting.
Along with the NCAA Tournament run, Smith was a three-time All-Big Ten guard as well as the conference's player of the year and an All-American in the 1995-96 season. The Buckeyes also made the NCAA Tournament that year, losing in the second round to No. 1 Tennessee.
After a brief stint for the Columbus Quest in the American
Basketball League, Smith was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in the 1999 WNBA player allocation draft.
Afer spending a bulk of her career with the Lynx, Smith went on to become a two-time WNBA Champion with the Detroit Shock (she was the 2008 WNBA Finals MVP) and was as a seven-time All Star in her 15-year career. Smith was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
After a 10-year coaching career in the WNBA, Ohio State women's coach Kevin McGuff hired Smith as an assistant during the 2024 season.
Smith will the second Victory Bell ringer of the 2026 season. Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett did the honors in the season opener.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State hoops legend Katie Smith to ring Victory Bell at Kent State game
