FORT MYERS, Fla. – Head Women's Basketball Coach
Karl Smesko and the collective Eagles Facilities & Operations staff have been named the FGCU Athletics Eagles of the Quarter as announced by Director of Athletics
Ken Kavanagh.
"We continue to be blessed by outstanding daily contributions by so many. In turn, Coach Smesko's maintenance of our women's basketball program at such a phenomenal level for so long certainly is deserving of special mention. The environment that he fosters for such amazing end results both on off the court with the tremendous young women he and his staff continually recruit and mentor is both truly incredible and extremely admirable. Overall, his significant results in all areas demonstrates a phenomenal story literally commenced from scratch. Beyond the historical numbers, we all very much value his leadership within our entire department and as a terrific FGCU ambassador."
Smesko, the only head coach in the history of the nationally ranked women's basketball program, led the Eagles to their record ninth ASUN Championship title and eighth NCAA Tournament appearance this past season. The Eagles finished the year 30-3 overall record and were ranked in both the final WBCA poll (No. 20) and AP Poll (No.23) to end the campaign – the WBCA placement was the highest in program history. The 30 wins marked the fifth time in the past eight seasons to hit that milestone, a feat only matched by reigning national champion South Carolina. He won his 600
th career game during the 2021-22 season and his .826 overall career winning percentage is the third highest among active Division I head coaches behind only UConn's Geno Auriemma and LSU's Kim Mulkey (overall, he ranks fifth all-time, with Louisiana Tech's Leon Barmore and Tennessee's Pat Summit at second and fourth respectively). Smesko was also named the ASUN Coach of the Year honor for a most ever 12
th time in his career after guiding the FGCU to its 12
th-straight 25-win season which included a road win at final ranked #9 LSU and a win over 5
th-seed Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the third time in the past eight seasons that the Green & Blue have advanced to the second round. He has also directed high standards success off the court, as his program has never achieved below a 3.16 team grade point average, and currently possesses a cumulative 3.47 GPA. He previously was bestowed the Stanley "Butch" Perchan Award in 2013, which is bestowed upon the proverbial definition of someone who bleeds "Green & Blue" and is a tremendous teammate to student-athletes and fellow staff alike, and who makes FGCU Athletics a better place each and every day.
"Mike Miller and his terrific team continue to personify the old adage of doing more with less than perhaps any in their peer group across the nation. This past spring, and overall year as a whole, continued that perspective from anyone who they were engaged with in our numerous hosting of a myriad of events, many on top of an already compact slate of happenings and responsibilities. COVID-times have been rough on everyone, but they have been particularly challenging for our folks in the trenches who have done great work serving our various constituents at an extremely high level".
The Facilities & Operations staff once again successfully spearheaded hosting several ASUN Championship Tournaments this year, including men's and women's tennis and baseball in recent months. Additionally, the staff navigated hosting a full schedule of spring events, as well as the return of external activities such as local high school graduations in Alico Arena. Previously this year, they also hosted the ASUN Volleyball Championship in its expanded format, as well as three ASUN Women's Basketball Championship contests, the opening round of the ASUN Women's Soccer Tournament, and the Men's Basketball game sellout versus USC that was nationally televised. Finally, they oversaw a number of facility projects that included the resurfacing of the FGCU Tennis Courts this spring. The team includes Associate Athletics Director for Facilities & Operations
Mike Miller, Associate Director
Tyler Keegan, Assistant Directors
Nick Reeves and
Wyatt Blatt, as well as Coordinator
Ryan Hesson.
The Eagles of the Quarter commenced in January 2021 as a way to honor FGCU Athletics staff members who go above and beyond in serving Eagle student-athletes and making the department successful.
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E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and
pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--
