Crystal Smith

From Back Yard to Front of the Pack

When Crystal Smith's mother wanted to know where her daughter was on any given afternoon, she didn't have to look any further than the family's backyard.

That backyard of her home in Haughton is where Crystal Smith played endless hours of basketball with her brothers and sisters, learning and honed the skills that took her to stardom in Big 10 basketball circles and later into the women's professional basketball league.

As a senior with the University of Iowa women’s team in 2005-06, Crystal was named the Hawkeyes' Most Valuable Player and a consensus All Big 10 selection after averaging 17.2 points a game to lead her team. She scored in double figures in 27 of 29 games in her last season and ended her career No. 14 on the school's career scoring list. Observers know her for her scoring, but the Iowa basketball media guide says she prided herself on her defensive play. As a senior she was a consensus selection to the league's all defense team. She also is the only Iowa player to earn the team's defensive award for three straight seasons. Her college coach, Lisa Bluder, said Crystal electrified Big 10 fans with her scoring and defense, adding it's worth the price of a ticket just to see her athleticism and determination.

In the 2006 Women’s National Basketball Association draft, the Phoenix Mercury selected Smith with the 32^nd pick. The 5-foot-6 guard joined a team that included All-Star guards Diana Taurasi and Cappie Poindexter. The 2006 Mercury became the WNBA's highest scoring team ever.

In her high school career, Crystal was chosen to the Shreveport-Bossier All-City teams for four straight years at Haughton High School. She scored 29.3 points a game as a junior and ended with a 26.2 scoring average for 119 games in her high school career.

Her career scoring total broke the Shreveport-Bossier record set by Alana Beard, who was the 2004 College Player of the Year at Duke University.

Crystal, who was 2002 Scholar Athlete of the Year at Haughton High, kept the beat going at Iowa, capping a career holding or sharing six school records, including most points in a single game (46 against Louisiana Tech). Between her sophomore and junior seasons, she increased her per-game average by 12 points and that ranked as the second-best improvement among the nation's collegiate players. As a junior she scored in double figures in 30 of 33 games and was named to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament all-tournament team.

Crystal Smith has come a long way with the skills she learned in her own back yard.

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