Carol Smith

Birthdate: July 21, 1947 
Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio
High School: Miamisburg H.S. (1965)
College: Otterbein University (1969)

Carol Smith's mother played high school basketball when there was a jump ball after every basket. Carol played at Miamisburg High School when each team had three offensive players at one end of the court and three defensive players at the other end. “I wanted to dribble,” Smith said. “When I got to college (at Otterbein) we played full court and we could dribble.”

Smith became a pioneer for women's basketball. After graduation in 1969, she took a teaching job at Walnut Ridge High School in Columbus and started a women's basketball program. In the first year she was permitted to schedule only four games and had to hold practices at a junior high school. Meanwhile, she played AAU basketball for 12 years and was invited to try out for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team.

In 1971, when the Walnut Ridge boys team won the state tournament, Smith personally practiced against them to give them some competition. 

 In 1977, she guided the Walnut Ridge girls to the state final. She coached the WR girls for 11 years before quitting to raise a family. Meanwhile, she established the Ohio Girls North-South All-Star Game, which was played at Otterbein for many years.