Women’s Basketball to retire Annette Smith

Smith-Knight finished her career as the Longhorns all-time leading scorer with 2,523 points.

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas plans to celebrate the retirement of jersey number 15 of Longhorn great Annette Smith-Knight Sunday, November 27, 2022, during a pre-game ceremony before Texas versus Princeton at Moody Center. Tipoff is 1 p.m. central time on Longhorn Network.

Smith-Knight played at The University of Texas from 1981-84, redshirted in 1984-85 and completed her senior year in 1985-86 as a member of the NCAA's first undefeated women's basketball national championship team (34-0). She is the all-time leading scorer in women's and men's basketball history at UT with 2,523 points, a record that will be difficult to erase.

Smith-Knight led Texas to a runner-up AIAW national championship finish in 1981-82 as a high-scoring freshman from Bay City. As a junior in 1983-84, she was a Kodak All-America selection, despite having her spectacular season cut short by a severe knee injury incurred during a late February practice. She also earned USBWA All-American honors and was a Wade Trophy finalist. Smith-Knight had led her squad to a No. 1 ranking that season, and the injury also dashed her hopes to go through U.S. national women's basketball team trials as an Olympic team hopeful for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Smith-Knight had been a member of the 1983 gold medalist U.S. national team for the World University Games team in Edmonton, Canada.

Smith-Knight missed the entire 1984-85 season while rehabilitating her knee injury. That year, Texas was ranked No. 1 as well and hoped to play in the NCAA Final Four in Austin, but fell in the NCAA Midwest Region semifinal at Western Kentucky. The Longhorns avenged that defeat a year later with Smith-Knight back on the court in the 1986 NCAA semifinal in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. Texas defeated USC in the NCAA championship game.

Smith-Knight was billed "the best little center" in the nation during her career. At 5-11, she was a prolific scorer in the post and an end-to-end speedster in the Longhorns' full-court pressing defense and fast-breaking offense. She started in 131 games, and her squads never lost a Southwest Conference regular season or postseason game, winning four SWC regular season and postseason crowns between 1982-83 and 1985-86. SWC competition did not start until 1982-83 for women's basketball. In 1982-83 and 1983-84, Smith-Knight was first-team All-SWC and All-SWC Tournament (Tournament MVP in 1982-83) as well as SWC Player of the Year. She still holds the Texas record for consecutive double-figure scoring games (55). She scored 20 or more points in 64 games. Smith-Knight also still ranks first in field goals made (1,052), is second in career scoring average (19.3) and is seventh in career rebounds (966).

Smith-Knight graduated from The University of Texas with a degree in speech communications in 1986.

Smith-Knight was inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 2002, the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville in 2013.

She spent time as a Texas assistant coach under her coach, Jody Conradt, both in 1990 and from 1993-98. Later, she served as director of women's basketball operations from 1998-2003. Following her basketball duties, she worked on the Texas Athletics administrative staff in student-athlete support service areas, retiring in 2015.