NCAC Pam Smith Award

The North Coast Athletic Conference Pam Smith Award commemorates the former Wittenberg women’s basketball head coach and associate director of athletics who had a profound impact upon the athletes she coached and the students she taught over an illustrious career that spanned more than two decades.

Pam Smith was the architect of the women’s basketball program with the most wins and highest winning percentage in NCAC history through 2007. A 1999 Wittenberg Athletics Hall of Honor inductee, Smith earned seven NCAC Coach of the Year awards and compiled a 401-170 record after taking the reins of a struggling program prior to the 1986-87 season. She led the Tigers to eight NCAA Division III tournament appearances, twelve 20-win seasons, and 11 NCAC regular season championships.

The NCAC Smith Award winner will also be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award, one of the most prestigious honors the NCAA bestows. The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership. Each NCAA conference, and independent institutions, can nominate one distinguished female student-athlete for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics meets in August to select the top 10 winners in each division. In September, the selection committee then evaluates the 30 honorees and choose the top three in each division. Finally, the members of the CWA vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the Woman of the Year. The top 10 honorees and the nine finalists from Divisions I, II and III are honored and the annual NCAA Woman of the Year winner is announced at a dinner in Indianapolis.