With seven- tenths of a second left in the 1994 title game, Smith — who’d made only eight three-pointers all year — got the call. Converting Her stunning buzzer-beater put Carolina’s program on the map in 1994. But it was Charlotte Smith’s losses that helped shape her into a winning head coach.

by Beth McNichol ’95 GETTYIMAGES/JIM GUND

34 CAROLINA ALUMNI REVIEW harlotte Smith ’95 at an NCAA investigation that implicated has willed the Phoenix from perennial knows the question is her team and caused star players to mediocrity to repeat champions. In coming. transfer — but ultimately led to no 2017, Elon won the Colonial Athletic She’s already penalties. At 66, she’s in her 33rd season in Association tournament title — the spent part of a June Chapel Hill with two years remaining on program’s first conference crown in evening in her Elon her current contract. She insists she’s not Division I competition — and made its University office going anywhere soon. first NCAA tournament appearance talking about the Still, Hatchell has been thinking in the 20 years since the school joined stuff that really matters: the lessons she’s about her legacy. Her active coaching Division I. In 2018, Smith coached the Clearned since one improbable shot, a mere tree extends to more than 40 branches sixth-youngest squad in the nation to a seven-tenths of a second in time, changed now, and Smith, whose miraculous shot 25-win season and an upset victory in her life. How a win for the ages can turn catapulted her program to success, the CAA tournament over top-seeded into a long, expectant shadow, following blooms near the top. Drexel. Off to the Big Dance went the you around for years after the last piece of “I’ve told people, I’ve said, ‘Look, Phoenix again. confetti has fluttered to the court. How the she might take my place one day, you Smith has gone 52-12 over the past world can shake you to your core, present know?’ ” Hatchell said. “I mean, I’m not two seasons, earning CAA and WBCA death and divorce to you in a single year ready to retire yet — I want to coach a Regional Coach of the Year honors and dare you to keep your competitive few more years and get the program along the way. edge, dare you to somehow grow from back. But there’ll be a day. And nothing She is beloved by her players, re- deep loss. would please me more than one day, spected by administrators and deeply How, ever so slowly, Smith managed to down the road, Charlotte would be the appreciated by the Elon community, do just that. next coach here.” who know they’ve found something And how the sum of those experiences With an endorsement like that, Smith special in Smith; season ticket sales helped turn the most-lauded North Caro- has come to expect the question. And she to Phoenix games have increased 71 lina women’s basketball player of all time answers it just like you think she will. percent over the past three years, and into a sought-after Division I head coach “All I think about,” she says steadily, attendance has more than doubled. at age 45. “is the people who actually sign my checks, “I know with her success the last The truth is, the question of whether and that’s Elon University.” couple of years there have been some Smith will one day return to her alma The speculation that she might leave big schools, some Bowl Championship mater to lead the basketball program that for a big-time program “has made my job Series schools, that have been very she lifted to its greatest heights 25 seasons pretty interesting here,” Smith said. “I’ve interested in her,” said Hatchell, who ago — to its first and only NCAA title, on had recruits not come to Elon, because talks frequently with Smith, offering a breathtaking buzzer-beater — is a tiny they said back in year two that I’m leaving. advice. “I said, ‘Charlotte, look. Just part of her big life. But it’s year eight, and I’m still here.” because it’s a big-name school doesn’t But the question is out there, on Smith’s response is not only prudent; mean it’s the right fit for you. If you go message boards and in athletics circles, it’s justifiable. Just down from her office there, go for the right reasons.’ ” because the sports world loves a good story at Alumni Gym on Elon’s leafy campus, So far, no one has been able to about a homecoming, even if the story the brand-new, 5,100-seat Schar Center lure Smith away. At Elon, she says, is still premature: Sylvia Hatchell is five waited to be christened by Smith’s team she has everything she needs — a years removed from a battle with cancer against Hatchell’s Tar Heels on Nov. 6. family atmosphere, a supportive and finally looking in the rearview mirror Since taking over at Elon in 2011, Smith administration and strong

“I’ve told people, I’ve said, ‘Look, she might take my place Smith in her “All I think about is the Elon office. one day, you know?’ I mean, I’m not ready to retire yet — The Shot people who actually sign I want to coach a few more years and get the program back. is never far my checks, and that’s But there’ll be a day. And nothing would please me more away, but she Elon University.” than one day, down the road, Charlotte would be the next learned “your — Charlotte Smith ’95 career won’t coach here.” always be like

— Coach Sylvia Hatchell ANAGRAM PHOTO/ANNA ROUTH BARZIN ‘07 this.”

36 CAROLINA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ’18 37 ALUMNI REVIEW on the court to win the NCAA title. (The Fighting Irish had three full seconds on the clock for their final play.) Smith leapt out of her seat and sped down to the floor in search of a communal moment with Ogunbowale. “Because who else has done that,” she said, “besides me?” When Ogunbowale and Smith finally 252-723-7232 | CoastalHeritage.com connected, Ogunbowale, who didn’t know [email protected] Kimberly Mills Willis ‘83 Carolina Women’s Leadership Council who Smith was, only had time for a quick, Building Your Coastal Heritage unfocused picture. The new heroine soon • Vacation and long-term rental homes along the Crystal coast left for another interview, her story in the • Residential construction, renovation, and remodeling elite club just beginning. But Smith has • Call, email or drop by and let us help you with coastal property lived her tale for the past 25 years, and here is what she might have told Ogun- bowale: First: Savor it, because the moment will disappear in a flash. Second: Don’t keep chasing this feeling. Your career won’t always be like this. From the moment that she climbed out of the pile of euphoria that spread across the Richmond Coliseum in 1994, Smith felt the pressure of her achievement. When an ESPN crew came to town to film a reenactment of The Shot, Smith “took a million and one tries” to sink one like it. Her senior year brimmed with personal accolades; she left Carolina as the most decorated UNC player of all time — the UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS PHOTOS COMMUNICATIONS ATHLETIC UNC ESPN National Player of the Year, first- After Hatchell finished taking down the net, Smith would become the most decorated UNC team All-America, the Most Outstanding player of all time. She was the Final Four MVP and, later, ESPN National Player of the Year Player of the Final Four, only the second and first-team All-America. She was the first Tar Heel woman to have her jersey retired. woman ever to dunk a basketball in competition and the first Tar Heel woman relationships. After years of chasing old shot. Here’s a junior post player who had to have her jersey retired. But what she shards of confetti, this is where she feels made only eight three-pointers all season, remembers most from that season is “This is the best gift we can give our children.” at home. who had more rebounds (23, matching the losing to Stanford in the NCAA regional – Rev. Mark Royster & Mrs. Phyllis Royster then-record for tournament play) than semifinals. Searching for deja vu points in the game, doing what she always She continued to battle her Joining the Carol Woods Priority List gives our If you haven’t watched the final seconds did: completing her assignment. Smith expectations in the professional ranks, children the gift of knowing we will get top-rated of the 1994 NCAA title game lately, make was not the obvious choice, but she was where growing pains collided with family health care without worry about unmanageable your way to YouTube now. You’ll be lifted the inspired choice to fool Louisiana Tech tragedies and personal loss. by the sight of arguably the greatest clutch defenders. Smith joined the Colorado Xplosion long-term care costs. Choosing Carol Woods is a gift three-pointer in NCAA tournament his- Smith and Hatchell separately credited in the now-defunct American Basket- to ourselves because we look forward to being tory. With just seven-tenths of a second the same force for that gutsy call: divine ball Association in 1996. While helping part of an active and welcoming community left, Stephanie Lawrence ’96 threads an inspiration. Smith settle into her new life out west, her committed to giving back to others. Learn more inbounds pass under the basket and over “It had to be,” said Smith, “because who mother fell ill. Etta Smith, who was 47, Louisiana Tech defenders to Smith beyond would pick me?” succumbed to double pneumonia before at www.carolwoods.org or call for a tour. the arc, who catches and shoots in what Last April, Smith watched from a sky- Charlotte took the court for her first game. she later described as a dreamlike haze. box at the women’s Final Four as Notre Smith pushed through a grief-stricken Tar Heels win, 60-59. Dame’s junior guard Arike Ogunbowale year to become the second-leading scorer The moment was extraordinary be- hit a three-pointer from the same spot and rebounder for Colorado’s conference cause of the do-or-die circumstances — in championship team, only to be traded at (800) 518-9333 2006, ESPN ranked it the most memora- Smith and Hatchell separately the end of the season. www.carolwoods.org ble moment ever in NCAA women’s play — credited the same force for that “I was really angry and bitter about the Visit us on Facebook. but also because it was Smith who took the gutsy call: divine inspiration. whole experience,” she said.

38 CAROLINA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ’18 39 ALUMNI REVIEW But if the beginning of her pro career brought tidal waves of emotions, the end of it, 10 years later, felt like a tsunami. Her 2002 marriage to attorney Johnny C. Taylor Jr. — the current chair of the Pres- ident’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, whom she met while playing with the WNBA’s Charlotte franchise — ended in 2006. Her father, Ulysses, died that June. “[My dad] was the most dedicated and biggest fan I ever had,” Smith wrote in a letter to fans and teammates in December 2006. “I can’t imagine not seeing him in the stands anymore.” Even in college, Hatchell recalled, “if she knew her parents were coming, Charlotte wasn’t worth a nickel until they walked in the gym. She saw them, and then all of a sudden, she just went to another level.” Feeling smaller and more broken than she’d ever felt in her life, Smith retired at age 33. Reminiscing in her office, where a poster of her iconic moment sits unframed and propped against the wall behind the door, Smith said she believed she could have kept playing if she had taken time off to grieve; she had posted her best WNBA seasons in 2004 and 2005, even while moonlighting as a UNC assistant in the offseason. But a new perspective and the coach’s whistle awaited.

“When you reach that highest pinnacle ANAGRAM PHOTO/ANNA ROUTH BARZIN ‘07 of success, you want to keep reaching it, On the shelf in her office, a picture of her dad, who passed away at the close of her WNBA so you can feel the euphoria over and over playing days. He was “the most dedicated and biggest fan I ever had.” again,” Smith said. “If you’re not careful to keep your perspective, you can become at UNC, learning to manage a Division I So when Elon Athletics Director Dave disillusioned and disappointed. And I program, Smith wasn’t sure she was ready Blank called in summer 2011, Smith pan- found myself on that performance tread- for the training wheels to come off. No one icked and threw the phone down on her mill in the pros and just remember, every ever is, she said. She’d interviewed for head bed, letting the rings die out unanswered. year, having this wish list of things that coaching positions, and the rejections This was it. I wanted to accomplish in the WNBA. ‘I — always over her lack of experience as a “I can’t answer it,” she said. “I can’t want to be an All-Star. I want to be a cham- head coach, an obvious if unconstructive answer it.” pion. I want to be this and that.’ And not criticism — were starting to fray her But Hatchell knew she was ready. reaching those milestones — and feeling confidence. Smith’s mentor had spent more than an like ‘less than’ because you didn’t.” “Doubts creep up. You start to ask your- hour on the phone with Blank during the It can become a burden, an accomplish- self if you have what it takes.” interview process, singing Smith’s praises. ment like The Shot. “Especially,” Smith “She’ll make you look good,” Hatchell had said, “when you allow it to become your told him. Even after nine years by Hatchell’s identity. In reality, it’s what you do, but it’s After Smith summoned the courage not who you are.” side at UNC, learning to manage a to redial and accept the job, Elon quickly Division I program, Smith wasn’t sure found that Hatchell was right. The earliest Preacher, poet, healer she was ready for the training wheels proof came not on the court but at an in- Even after nine years by Hatchell’s side to come off. No one ever is, she said. tersection in Burlington in 2011.

40 CAROLINA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ’18 41 ALUMNI REVIEW Smith had been allowing drivers who duced?” she asked. Charlotte Smith Dream Center one day, student at Carolina. “She talked about were exiting a tricky Chick-fil-A parking Elon enlisted a music professor to a place where kids can come and find going from being a superstar in college to lot to reenter the congested highway in arrange the piece and a gifted Elon themselves through music, art, writing riding the bench early in the WNBA, and front of her car. She was stopped at a red choral student to sing it. In January and sports. She’s written a book of how that was a challenge for her. She liked light when a man behind her got out of his 2015, as stories of police brutality in the devotionals for coaches and is working to say that you can get bitter or you can get vehicle, approached her window and stood African-American community roiled the on a second one for players. She posts better.” in front of her, repeatedly screaming, “N--- nation, Smith recorded an introduction pop-up sermons on her public Facebook She’s still hard on herself. She dissects --s gotta get out of the way.” Smith said she to the song in which she spoke of the page. She guest-ministers at neighbors’ game film like a surgeon wielding a scalpel never before had experienced such direct, traffic incident. Elon posted the video on churches. She worries about the quietly and forces herself to take deep breaths stunning racism. She shook all over but YouTube and other social media. bleeding hearts around her, the loneliness before she debriefs her team. She wrinkles managed to turn toward the man, who was “At a time of great tension in our na- that lives beyond her sight. her nose as she admits she would’ve liked white, and respond, “God bless you,” after tion,” Smith said calmly into the camera, “I know from my own experience of to have won a conference title by year five, each insult. “I would like to offer a message of peace.” brokenness,” she said, her voice softly not year six. She must remind herself still On the way to the police station to re- That, say her friends, is the essence cracking, “having gone through divorce, that a loss is just a loss, not a failure. port the incident, she called Blank, then of who Charlotte Smith is today. Not the having lost my mom and dad, suffering “She’s never going to be satisfied,” returned home to decompress. For Smith, player who sank The Shot. Just a woman through a lot of loss, that it changes you.” said Elon Assistant Coach Josh Wick ’01, a devout Christian and ordained minister who believes that her faith in the world is Hatchell has always said that you who’s known Smith since she was a UNC whose father was a bishop, that meant transferable, who counts to eight before couldn’t combine Smith’s athleticism assistant coach. “She’s not thinking, ‘Oh, writing — poetry, sermons and music. she lets people go from her hugs. with her competitive nature and not find we made it to the tournament last year and When she returned to her office, a squad of “Her mom and dad were really warm an All-American stirring beneath. But played a close game; we’re good right here.’ administrators that included the univer- and caring,” said Tonya Jackson ’96, a Smith’s vulnerability creates her strength She wants to go deeper in the postseason, sity president were waiting to offer their member of the 1994 championship team as a coach. She conjures the most hum- dominate the lead more. She’s grown and support. and a school counselor in Durham. “She bling moments of her own life to inspire grown in confidence as a coach.” “What can we do?” they asked. had a good foundation to draw from. But the greatest response in her players. Although once she may have worried

She handed them the lyrics and music COURTESY OF ELON UNIVERSITY all that was strengthened [through her “She’s good at reminding you to take about disappointing Hatchell or other to a gospel song she had just completed, An ugly racist incident inspired Smith to write a gospel song. Elon enlisted a music professor own hardships] because she wants people a step back and see the bigger picture in mentors, Wick said, she no longer does. titled Lord Give Us Your Heart. to arrange it and a choral student recorded it with Smith’s introduction, and the university to feel important and valued.” life,” said Samantha Coffer, a former Elon She owns her team, owns her job, owns the “Could you help me get this song pro- posted Lord Give Us Your Heart on YouTube. Smith has visions of opening the player who is now a third-year medical results — and each year those results, on

42 CAROLINA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ’18 43 ALUMNI REVIEW COURTESY OF ELON UNIVERSITY

Now she cuts down nets of her own. Smith has willed the Phoenix from perennial mediocrity to repeat champions. She coached the sixth- youngest squad in the nation to a 25-win season last year. The question that nags at her now involves her alma mater.

and off the court, get a little bigger. at Elon.” coach seven years ago, Burnett, who is “It’s teaching them the importance She’ll take that identity. Shay Burnett, from nearby Graham, was still just a of selflessness, the character traits that who left Elon last year as a three-time teenager being recruited by the school. transfer,” said Smith, who was a North all-conference honoree, once wanted to She didn’t recognize the name that had Carolina Sports Hall of Fame inductee in dunk like Smith. Now, she wants to coach launched an on-court frenzy in 1994. But 2015. “That’s what I have to get them to like Smith. Burnett’s parents did. Her parents knew open their eyes and see, that what they’re “If you’ve met her,” Burnett said, it all: the competitiveness, the dunk, the learning is so much bigger than basket- “she’ll change your life.” championship. The Shot. They knew ball. Like, when you’re married one day, When Elon announced its new how divine inspiration, a fraction of a you’re going to need to know how to be second in time, could alter a person’s life. selfless and sacrifice, that it’s give and “She’s good at reminding you to take “Coach Smith has done everything take. And it’s not just about me.” you want to do,” they told their daughter. a step back and see the bigger picture Much has changed since Smith “She’s the one.” first arrived at Elon. Her players no in life. She talked about going from longer make spring break plans; they being a superstar in college to riding Beth McNichol ’95, a freelance writer assume they will be playing in the the bench early in the WNBA, and based in Raleigh, is a former associate NCAA tournament. Seven years ago, how that was a challenge for her. She editor for the Review. the athletes Smith recruited had no idea liked to say that you can get bitter, or who she was. Now, says Wick, “they may you can get better.” Video of Smith’s Final Four shot is at not know everything she did as a player — Samantha Coffer, former Elon player now bit.ly/csmith-shot. Her song, Lord Give Us Your — but they do know her as Coach Smith a third-year medical student at Carolina Heart, is at bit.ly/csmith-song.

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