Two former Buckeyes, Katie Smith (left) and Jacy Sheldon (right), will join the women’s basketball coaching staff. Smith joins as an assistant coach while Sheldon joins as the director of player development. Credit: Ohio State Athletics (left), Gabe Haferman | Lantern File Photo (right)
Ohio State’s coaching staff is bringing on two of the program’s all-time greats.
Former players Jacy Sheldon and Katie Smith have joined the women’s basketball team’s coaching staff, Ohio State Athletics and head coach Kevin McGuff announced Monday.
Smith will serve as an assistant coach, while Sheldon will step in as the director of player development.
“I’m extremely excited to add both [Sheldon] and [Smith] to the staff,” McGuff said in Monday’s press release. “As former Buckeyes they both possess a passion for this program that will be instrumental in helping us continue to compete at the highest level of women’s college basketball. Together they will have a big presence in the community as we proceed with growing our already incredible fan base.”
Smith played at Ohio State from 1992-96 and, in her freshman year alone, led Ohio State to a national championship game appearance, being named National Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. That same season, she was also appointed to the Kodak All-American First Team.
With 2,578 career points, Smith sits in third place for all-time scoring as a Buckeye.
In the WNBA, Smith was a seven-time All-Star, a two-time champion with the Detroit Shock, the 2008 WNBA Finals MVP and retired from women’s professional basketball in 2013 as the all-time leading scorer.
Smith was inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001, as well as both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Sheldon, however, is returning just a year after being selected as the fifth overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings. She averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 assists as a rookie in 2024, while earning a starting spot for Wings midway through the year.
The former Buckeye guard spent 2019-24 with Ohio State, finishing sixth all-time in scoring with 2,024 points while earning a top-15 spot all-time in 10 different statistical categories, including assists and 3-pointers made.
Sheldon helped Ohio State earn its first Elite Eight appearance in 2023 since Smith’s 1993 team, also leading the Buckeyes to their first outright Big Ten regular season title since 2009-10 in 2024.
