Jackie Smith enters her seventh season as head women's basketball coach at Connecticut College in 2024-25. She also serves as the department's NCAA Representative for Diversity and Inclusion.
Smith, who was hired in August 2018, guided the Camels to a winning 13-11 ledger as well as the program’s sixth straight NESCAC Tournament appearance in 2018-19. Junior point guard Sami Ashton was named to the All-NESCAC Second Team, and the program was outstanding in the classroom by producing four NESCAC All-Academic Team selections and boasting a GPA which above a 3.6 each semester.
The Camels continued their remarkable run of success in the classroom and other areas in Smith’s second year at the helm in 2019-20. A league-best seven players were named to the NESCAC All-Academic Team, and senior Ashley Howe was among just 13 students in the graduating class to be named a Winthrop Scholar. Howe’s award is the highest academic honor bestowed by the college and reserved for students who also demonstrate exceptional leadership. In addition, Smith initiated a partnership with Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization which connects children with serious and chronic illnesses to college athletic teams, and Ashton became the 17th player in program history to score her 1,000th career point.
Prior to her arrival at Connecticut College, Smith was the top assistant under her longtime mentor Jennifer Rizzotti, a UConn alum and 2013 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, for the past five seasons at the University of Hartford and George Washington University. The Colonials most notably advanced to the 2018 NCAA Tournament by winning the Atlantic 10 Conference crown and also qualified for the 2017 WNIT Tournament in her first season on the sidelines at the institution.
At George Washington, Smith served as the program’s recruiting coordinator while also being heavily involved with the team’s scouting, analysis and game strategy for the past two seasons. She worked directly with the guards and successfully developed two all-conference players, including the MVP of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament. Furthermore, the assistant coach was the program’s admissions, academic and alumni relations liaison.
Smith came to George Washington with Rizzotti after spending three years with her in the same role at Hartford, which is also her alma mater. In this position, she served as the recruiting coordinator and marketing liaison while also mentoring five all-conference players and the first-ever America East Sixth Player of the Year. In addition, she organized the program’s inaugural alumni game.
Before returning to Hartford, Smith began her professional career as an assistant coach for two seasons at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. In 2012-13, the Skyhawks finished with a 24-5 overall record, including a 19-3 mark in Northeast 10 Conference action, and advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
As a student-athlete, Smith was a four-year member and two-time team captain for Coach Rizzotti’s Hartford squads and was instrumental in the program’s success between 2007 and 2011. The Hawks won two America East Conference championships, made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and recorded a first-round victory over Syracuse in 2008. In addition, the team registered a combined 92-39 ledger, garnered its first-ever top-25 national ranking and climbed as high as 19th in the AP poll in 2010.
Smith landed on the America East All-Conference Third Team as a junior before leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5) and ranking third in assists (3.5 pg) during her senior season as the squad’s starting point guard. She finished her career ranked second in free throw percentage (.815), sixth in 3-point field goals made (107), seventh in assists (292) and eighth in games played (122).
A native of Westfield, Massachusetts, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education with a minor in sociology from Hartford in 2011. She resides in Norwich with her wife, Kara, and cat, Millie.
