In A League Of Her Own
Legendary Coach Pam Evans Smith ’82 Remembered

Pam Evans Smith ’82, women’s basketball head coach, associate director of athletics and architect of the most successful women’s basketball program in North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) history, died June 26 after a long battle with cancer. She was 47.

“Although Pam will be remembered as a legendary coach and professor, her impact reached far beyond the basketball court,” said President Mark H. Erickson.

“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, a 1999 Wittenberg Athletics Hall of Honor inductee, instructor and senior woman administrator, 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.

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.

A biology major at Wittenberg who went on to earn her master’s degree in physical education from Ithaca College, Smith also enjoyed a record-breaking career as a player in the Red & White between 1979-82.

A memorial service was held in Weaver Chapel on July 1. Smith is survived by her husband, her parents, three brothers, a brother-in-law, and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. A sister preceded her death.

- Ryan Maurer