Feb. 22, 2000
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State head women's basketball coach Barb Smith, currently in her third season with the Aztecs, has been given a two-year contract extension, SDSU Director of Athletics Rick Bay announced Tuesday.
"I have seen progress by the team throughout this season against some of the better teams in the Mountain West Conference," said Bay. "I believe the staff has made positive strides despite a season-ending injury to its most experienced player and despite players who have left the program. In many respects, the reasons for those defections have more to do with those players than the coach."
During Smith's tenure, the Aztecs have compiled a 25-50 (.333) record. SDSU, which has played the majority of it current campaign with just eight scholarship players, is 8-16 (.333), 3-8 MWC (sixth place) this season, but has played just under .500 ball since opening the season 1-7. In its last 16 games, SDSU is 7-9, including wins over Colorado State, UNLV and TCU, and most recently picked up its eighth win of the year -- surpassing its win total for all of last season -- with a 70-38 victory over Air Force last Saturday.
"I felt I needed to make a decision at this point in order to afford Barb an opportunity to recruit over the next two months with the knowledge that she and her staff are going to be on board," Bay added. "To some extent, the uncertainty of her status has impacted her ability to recruit this year.
"We've invested three years in Barb to this point," Bay said. "She came here without head coaching experience but, in my mind, she has started to adapt to the responsibilities of being in charge of a program. She is the type of individual I want to represent San Diego State and I feel she deserves that chance to turn things around."