Skip to main content
haley smith vs. oregon 2017
Photo by: Jivan West

Smith Nominated For NCAA Woman Of The Year

June 26, 2017 | Women's Basketball

BOULDER - Haley Smith put together one of the most illustrious careers in Colorado athletics history when you combine her success both on and off the basketball floor. The native of Sammamish, Washington, is the University of Colorado's 2016-17 nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year. The complete list of 544 nominees across all divisions of the NCAA will be released on Tuesday.
 
"Haley Smith embodies everything that is great about being a student-athlete," CU head coach JR Payne said. "Haley worked very hard to be an impeccable role model for those around her, including her peers, coaches and young people that looked up to her. It amazes me that someone who has accumulated so much academic and athletic success focused so much on serving those around her in any way that she could. Haley's selflessness continues to inspire us, even after graduation. I am blessed to be her coach and cannot wait to see what the future holds."
 
Qualifiers for NCAA Woman of the Year must excel in the four pillars of the award: academics, athletics, service and leadership. Smith easily checks all of those boxes.
 
Academics
Smith was a two-time winner of Colorado's Crystal Ford Scholar-Athlete Award and finished among the best in one of the most challenging fields of study, CU's College of Engineering as a mechanical engineering major. Balancing her academics, athletics, service and leadership, she completed her degree in May with a 3.70 grade point average, ranking 29th out of 251 students in her class. She also earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors all three years she was eligible for it, made the College of Engineering Dean's List four times, and was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll eight times.
 
Her academic endeavors led her to lead and participate in several high-level projects during her four years in Boulder, highlighted by serving as a test engineer for adjustable, ergonomic sideline chairs to maintain metabolic homeostasis of NBA players for the Milwaukee Bucks in her senior project. Other projects included designing a tadpole tricycle powered by a battery-powered drill to maximize efficiency, and analyzing mechano-hydraulic prosthetic ankles. Some of her studies included researching medical devices used for colonoscopies and conducting trials to optimize prescription of running prostheses for transtibial amputees.
 
She has earned a full academic scholarship to Stanford to continue her studies as a mechanical engineering graduate student.
 
Athletics
Smith led Colorado to the postseason in two of her four years at CU, including the WNIT in 2017 under first-year head coach JR Payne after helping the Buffs to the WNIT in 2014 as a freshman. Her accomplishments go far beyond the win column, however, as she became just one of 15 players in Colorado history to score over 1,000 points and grab over 500 rebounds in her career.
 
The two-year team captain earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 and was named honorable mention for the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team in 2017 as well after averaging 11.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals, ranking sixth in the conference in steals. She also took home the Lisa VanGoor Rebounding Award as a senior.
 
Leadership and Service
Despite a heavy load of rigorous academics and Division I basketball, Smith always found time for more off the floor. She was involved in the Student-Athlete Leadership Academy all four years at CU, participating in workshops, providing insights, strategies and skills necessary to become an effective leader on a team, a university campus and in the community.
 
She was also a two-year member of CU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as SAAC Vice President in 2016-17, standing as a leader among student-athletes to voice their interests and concerns to the athletics department leadership. The group also organized several leadership-through-service opportunities for student-athletes under her guidance.
 
Smith also served as an Engineering Fellow as a junior, mentoring other students in engineering, and was a member of the Student-Athlete Engineering Club in 2015.
 
Outside of CU, she devoted many hours to community service projects, including working with community food pantries and visits to Children's Hospital with the "Buffs Hugs" program.
 
As a result of all of her off-the-floor efforts, she earned the Byron R. White Leadership and Initiative Award as a senior, the Ceal Barry Pride Award as a junior and a senior, and the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award in May.
 
For more on Smith's accomplishments off the basketball court, check out Neill Woelk's feature from early May: link.