UW RECRUIT NAMED TOP PREP IN NATION

Madison Capital Times

Madison, Wis.

Apr 6, 1999

When University of Wisconsin women's basketball coach Jane Albright-Dieterle

signed Iowa high school standout Nina Smith to a national letter of intent

last fall, the UW coach believed she had just received a commitment from

the top prep in the nation.

Others agree.

Smith, a 6-foot-4 center from Waterloo (Iowa) West, was named national

prep girls basketball player of the year by both Parade Magazine and USA

Today.

"Those are definitely the two most prestigious teams," Albright- Dieterle

said of the squads named by USA Today and Parade Magazine. "It just shows

us as a staff, and everyone in the community, that we had every right to

be so excited about signing Nina. I've never coached a national player

of the year before."

Smith averaged 25.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots per game

this past season. She also shot 78 percent from the field and 41 percent

from 3-point range, leading her team to Iowa's Class 4A state title game.

Smith, who was also recently named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association

national player of the year, set school records for points (1,994), rebounds

(1,027) and blocks (295). She shot 71 percent from the floor for her four-year

varsity career.

Smith scored 10 points for the winning team in Saturday's WBCA All-Star

game in Hartford, Conn.