A former WBCA All-American at Duke, Wanisha Smith begins her eighth season at Longwood in 2016-17, beginning her employment June 25, 2009.
Head coach Bill Reinson’s most experienced assistant, Smith works with the team’s guards while also working in recruiting, scouting opponents on the Lancers schedule and helping with individual practice sessions. In addition, she oversees the coaching in camps and clinics.
Throughout her seven seasons, Smith has assisted in guiding the Lancers into the Big South era and helped the squad advance to the Big South Championship game in its first season in the league before falling to Liberty.
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The 2015-16 season saw Longwood post an 8-22 overall record and a 5-15 Big South ledger, as injuries plagued the roster throughout the season with just three players on the 16-man roster having played in each of the team’s 30 games. Smith played a heavy role in the development of sophomore Micaela Ellis who led the team in assists and minutes played from the point guard position.
In addition, her work with Daeisha Brown helped her become the 21st player in program history and the third player in Longwood’s Division I era to tally 1,000 career points in a Longwood uniform. Brown became the fastest player in the Division I era to reach 1,000 points and joined former teammates Chelsea Coward and Crystal Smith in accomplishing the feat.
The 2014-15 campaign saw Smith assist in leading Longwood to a 4-26 overall record. Injuries plagued the Longwood roster throughout the campaign, with ACL tears to Brown, a Preseason Second-Team All-Big South selection and leading rebounder Khlaliah Ali. Smith oversaw the development of Raven Williams who elevated her level of play despite the injury to Brown, as Williams averaged 13.3 points per contest in 2014-15 to earn Honorable Mention All-Big South honors.
In 2012-13, Smith helped Reinson guide the Lancers to a 14-19 overall record, including an 8-10 mark in the program’s inaugural season in the Big South, and an appearance in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championship game. The Lancers’ 14 wins marked the most victories for the team since its first year playing a Division I schedule back in 2007-08 (16). Under Smith’s guidance, the Lancers won their first four games of the Big South era, including its Big South debut at Gardner-Webb.
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The team earned the No. 7 seed for the tournament before winning three-straight postseason games to advance to the conference’s title game against in-state foe Liberty University. Longwood’s run to the Championship marked just the third time in Big South history that a No. 7 seed played in the championship game.
She was a four-year standout at Duke University and the 27th overall selection in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty. Smith briefly played in the WNBA during 2008 with the Detroit Shock.
Smith played her first three years at Duke under head coach Gail Goestenkors, one of the winningest coaches in women’s college basketball. She helped lead the Blue Devils to an average of 32 wins during her career, and was selected a team captain for 2007-08. Smith completed her career at Duke ranked fourth in assists (496), including a freshman record (154) during 2004-05. She was the 22nd Blue Devil to reach 1,000 career points, finishing her outstanding career with 1,256 points.
A native of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in women’s studies at Duke in 2008. She was previously The Washington Post Metro Player of the Year, the Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year, a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American, and a McDonalds All-American in 2003-04, while also the Ohio Player of the Year as a high school sophomore.
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