Susan Smith is in her first season as associate head coach and her fourth season as member of the women's basketball coaching staff at Ohio Wesleyan University.
During the 2024-25 season, Smith was part of a coaching staff recognized by the North Coast Athletic Conference as NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year after the Battling Bishops ran the table in NCAC play, compiling a 14-0 record in league play to finish a conference schedule undefeated for the first time in school history. Ohio Wesleyan went on to advance to the sectional semifinals (final 16 teams) of the NCAA Division III tournament and finish with a 25-4 overall record.
In 2023-24, the Bishops shared the NCAC title — the first conference championship for Ohio Wesleyan in nearly a quarter of a century — and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. The 2022-23 Bishops won the NCAC tournament and made their first NCAA Division III tournament appearance in nearly 15 years.
Smith came to Ohio Wesleyan from Defiance College, where she was an assistant women's basketball coach during the 2021-22 season, helping the Yellow Jackets improve to 14 wins after a 2-win season the previous year.
Prior to coaching at Defiance, Smith was a volunteer assistant at Springfield College for 2 seasons. She began her coaching career at Lane Community College, helping the Titans compile a 133-27 record in 5 seasons, including a regional championship, a Northwest Athletic Conference championship, and 3 NWAC championship semifinal appearances.
Smith is a 2014 graduate of William Penn University, where she played basketball for 2 seasons and majored in biology. She led the Statesmen in assists as a senior and twice collected Daktronic-NAIA Division II Scholar-Athlete honors. Smith began her playing career at Lane, setting school game (19) and season (210) records for assists and finishing her Lane career ranked second on the school's career assists list while receiving honorable mention all-conference recognition.
She continued her education at Springfield, earning a master's degree in physical education in 2021.
Smith is a native of Eugene, Ore.
