Smith’s professional career tips off

Guard Tyresa Smith, the first Fightin’ Blue Hen ever selected in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft, has had the kind of career and senior season that most scholar-athletes dream about.

During the 2006-07 season, the health studies major and team co-captain led the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in scoring and ranked 18th in NCAA Division I, averaging 19.8 points per game. She also managed to grab 7.5 rebounds and come up with 2.6 steals per game.

Accolades for Smith include Kodak Women’s Basketball Coaches Regional All-America, first team All-CAA, conference defensive player of the year for the last two seasons and five-time conference player of the week. In May, she was honored as UD’s top senior female scholar-athlete for 2006-07.

Led by Smith, the 2006-07 Hens finished 26-6 and were invited to participate in the NCAA Division I championship tournament, losing 69-58 to host Michigan State University in the opening round.

To top off a remarkable year, Smith was taken by the Phoenix Mercury in the second round of the WNBA draft on April 3, in Cleveland. She was the 18th pick overall.

“I was really excited and relieved,” Smith says. “One of my dreams has been to be drafted by the WNBA. I worked so hard to get there. It was so worth it.”

Smith, who left on April 19 for a rookie orientation camp in Chicago followed by a 10-day training camp in Phoenix, says she has been working to stay in shape for a postcollegiate career in the WNBA.

“When we got back from Michigan, I took two days off,” Smith says. “Since then, I have been in the weight room and the gym.”

Smith’s level of commitment is no surprise to UD Head Coach Tina Martin, who recruited the graduate of Polytech High School, just south of Dover, Del., after hearing about her athletic abilities and her commitment to hard work and self-improvement from teachers and coaches there.

“Getting drafted by Phoenix is a tremendous honor for Tyresa and for our women’s basketball program,” Martin says. “She has had an outstanding career at UD. She is the best guard that we have ever had.”
Martin says one of the reasons that Smith was recruited by UD is that she has a great work ethic and is always looking for ways to take her game up to the next level.

“When Tyresa came to UD, she could jump and had great athletic ability, but her form and ball-handling needed to be changed,” Martin says. “Each summer, we would suggest certain things that she needed to improve on, and each time we asked her to do something, she did. This is the reason that she is where she is today. It’s why she was drafted by the WNBA.”

Smith’s success reflects a personal commitment to continued improvement and the combined efforts of the coaching staff and the training facilities available at UD, Martin says.

“It is quite an accomplishment to have a player drafted. The only two teams in the CAA to have a player drafted by the WNBA are UD and Old Dominion,” Martin says. “I’m really proud of our coaches.”

Martin says Smith’s success should help the program get the attention of the current crop of high school basketball standouts. “Having Tyresa go to the WNBA shows that if you are willing to work hard, you can accomplish big dreams. I’m really glad for her and her family,” Martin says. “It also shows that when you come to Delaware, there is the possibility that you may one day be drafted by the WNBA.”

Although UD was the only university that recruited her in high school, Smith, who won the state high jump championship as a junior, says things could not have turned out better.

“I wanted to stay close to home, and it worked out perfectly,” Smith says. “My family has been my biggest support system. They came to all the home games and all the away games that were close to Newark.”

Smith says she also appreciates the way UD faculty members work with undergraduates in the classroom and the research lab. “My favorite class was nutrition. My classes were very interesting, and I learned a lot,” she says. “The professors here are really cool, and they work with you. This is something special about UD.”

When not on the court or in the classroom at UD, Smith says she enjoyed going to movies, shopping and listening to music.

“I like all kinds of music, especially R & B and the old stuff,” she says.

Smith also enjoys and values the relationships with her teammates that developed during her undergraduate career. “One of the things I really like about UD is that since coming here four years ago, I have gotten to know my teammates,” Smith says. “They are going to be my friends for life.”

—Jerry Rhodes, AS ’04