Tangela Smith

Tangela Nicole Smith (born April 1, 1977) is an American former basketball player in the WNBA. Smith played the bulk of her career for the Sacramento Monarchs and the Phoenix Mercury where she won two WNBA Championships. She's currently an assistant coach at Northwestern University.

Tangela Smith

Personal information
Born	(1977-04-01) April 1, 1977 (age 47) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	158 lb (72 kg)
Career information
High school	George Washington (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Iowa (1994–1998)
WNBA draft	1998: 2nd round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Sacramento Monarchs
Playing career	1998–2012
Position	Power forward / center
Number	50, 5
Coaching career	2014–present
Career history
As player:
1998–2004	Sacramento Monarchs
2005–2006	Charlotte Sting
2007–2010	Phoenix Mercury
2011	Indiana Fever
2012	San Antonio Stars
As coach:
2014–2018	Western Michigan (assistant)
2018–present	Northwestern (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
WNBA All-Star (2006) 2× WNBA champion (2007, 2009) 2x First-team All-Big Ten (1996, 1998) Big Ten Player of the Year (1998) Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball (1998)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Women's Basketball Representing  United States Jones Cup 1997 Taipei Team Competition

High school

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Smith attended George Washington High School, where she was named a 1994 Kodak High School All-American. Smith was named a High School All-American by the WBCA.^[1] She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1994, scoring three points.^[2]

College

Smith graduated from the University of Iowa in 1998. She won the 1998 Big Ten Player of the Year award. She was also a 1998 Kodak/WBCA All-America honorable mention and earned 1996 and 1998 All-Big Ten first team and 1997 All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades.

USA Basketball

Smith competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1997 Jones Cup Team that won the silver medal in Taipei. Several of the games were close, with the USA team winning four games by six points or fewer, including an overtime game in the semifinal match against Japan. The gold medal game against South Korea was also close, but the USA fell 76–71 to claim the silver medal for the event. Smith averaged 8.0 points per game.^[3]

WNBA career

Smith was selected 12th overall in the 1998 WNBA draft by the Sacramento Monarchs. She played 6 seasons for the Monarchs, helping them reach the playoffs five times. In 2005, she was traded to the Sting in exchange for Nicole Powell. Charlotte folded following the 2006 season and Smith's rights were acquired by the Minnesota Lynx in the dispersal draft.

On Draft Day in April 2007, she was dealt to the Phoenix Mercury for No. 1 overall pick Lindsey Harding.

On Friday, 13 August 2010 she overtook Vickie Johnson and became the WNBA's all-time leader in games played with 411 in 13 seasons. During her time in the league she missed 15 games.

International career

In the WNBA offseason in 1998–99, Smith was a professional basketball player in Italy, Israel, South Korea and Turkey. In 2001, she helped the Botasspor squad win the Turkish league crown. In 2002, she helped the Shinsegae Coolcats win the Korean league championship. Now she plays in the Hungarian Championship since February 2013, for the 2012 Champion Team, HAT-AGRO UNI Győr.

Coaching career

Tangela Smith began her coaching career in 2014 at Western Michigan University on Shane Clipfell's staff. As an assistant coach, Smith helped WMU to a 74–56 record over four seasons.

On July 6, 2018, it was announced that Smith was hired as an assistant coach and would join Joe McKeown's staff at Northwestern University. This would mark a return to the Big 10 where she played collegiately.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1998	Sacramento	28	10	25.3	40.1	35.7	74.1	4.6	1.0	0.6	1.6	1.7	9.6
1999	Sacramento	31	3	20.4	44.3	50.0	65.3	3.8	0.5	0.8	1.2	1.2	8.3
2000	Sacramento	32	32	28.9	47.4	0.0	78.3	5.6	1.3	0.9	2.0	1.9	12.1
2001	Sacramento	32	32	28.5	42.0	0.0	72.9	5.6	1.3	1.1	1.7	2.1	11.2
2002	Sacramento	32	32	33.2	42.3	35.7	85.1	5.9	1.3	0.8	1.4	1.8	14.7
2003	Sacramento	34	34	29.0	44.0	26.5	70.7	5.5	1.5	1.3	0.9	1.6	12.6
2004	Sacramento	34	33	26.7	41.1	17.2	80.4	4.1	1.5	1.1	0.7	1.6	11.2
2005	Charlotte	31	31	34.3	41.7	0.0	79.8	5.2	1.3	1.6	1.0	2.7	13.6
2006	Charlotte	34	34	28.6	42.1	36.5	74.4	5.3	1.5	1.2	0.9	2.1	13.1
2007	Phoenix	34	34	31.5	41.4	32.8	78.8	6.5	1.3	1.2	1.6	1.6	12.6
2008	Phoenix	25	25	28.9	41.7	34.8	86.7	7.0	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.6	11.1
2009	Phoenix	34	34	27.1	45.1	45.2	87.0	5.4	0.8	1.0	1.7	1.1	9.9
2010	Phoenix	34	34	29.2	39.5	34.7	75.0	5.2	0.9	0.7	0.9	1.1	9.2
2011	Indiana	33	32	21.5	37.1	34.0	88.2	3.1	1.5	0.7	0.5	1.3	7.2
2012	San Antonio	15	0	10.0	41.7	28.6	100.0	1.1	0.9	0.1	0.2	0.5	2.5
Career	15 years, 5 teams	463	400	27.5	42.3	34.3	77.7	5.0	1.2	1.0	1.2	1.6	10.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Sacramento	1	1	38.0	37.5	0.0	33.3	2.0	0.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	14.0
2000	Sacramento	2	2	29.5	40.9	0.0	75.0	4.0	0.5	1.0	0.5	1.0	10.5
2001	Sacramento	5	5	32.8	38.3	0.0	81.8	4.8	1.6	1.0	1.0	0.8	11.0
2003	Sacramento	6	6	29.3	39.7	33.3	70.0	7.7	1.8	0.8	0.5	1.8	12.8
2004	Sacramento	6	6	30.8	44.2	22.2	77.3	5.2	1.3	1.5	2.0	1.8	15.8
2007	Phoenix	9	9	31.8	40.7	48.4	80.0	7.8	1.7	1.0	1.8	1.4	11.7
2009	Phoenix	11	11	26.4	52.6	52.6	75.0	5.8	0.8	1.4	0.8	0.6	9.9
2010	Phoenix	4	4	32.3	48.3	35.3	75.0	6.5	2.3	0.5	1.3	1.3	9.3
2011	Indiana	6	6	27.5	40.7	40.9	100.0	5.3	1.7	0.8	1.0	2.2	9.5
2012	San Antonio	2	0	4.5	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Career	10 years, 4 teams	52	50	28.9	42.9	43.2	74.8	5.8	1.4	1.1	1.1	1.3	11.0

College career statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1994–95	Iowa	28	-	-	45.3	0.0	64.4	7.5	0.7	0.9	2.6	-	9.0
1995–96	Iowa	31	-	-	47.1	11.1	68.1	7.0	2.5	1.3	2.2	-	13.6
1996-97	Iowa	30	-	-	53.2	0.0	68.5	6.2	1.2	1.3	1.3	-	11.6
1997-98	Iowa	29	-	-	55.9	0.0	70.3	8.4	1.3	1.4	1.9	-	19.9
Career		118	-	-	51.0	6.7	68.3	7.3	1.5	1.2	2.0	-	13.5
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[4]

References

1. "Past WBCA HS Coaches' All-America Teams". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
2. "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
3. "1997 Women's R. William Jones Cup". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
4. "Tangela Smith College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2024.

External links

• Western Michigan Broncos coaching bio
• WNBA player profile
• U.S Basketball bio
• Official Tangela Smith website