Katie Smith and Jacy Sheldon both chose to return to Ohio State over opportunities in professional basketball.
Smith has been the lead assistant for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx for the past five years and could have been a candidate for one of the seven head coaching jobs that opened around the league if she chose to pursue one. Instead, she accepted an offer to join Kevin McGuff’s staff at Ohio State as an assistant coach.
Katie Smith is back in Scarlet & Gray
— Ohio State Womens Basketball (@OhioStateWBB) November 11, 2024
Buckeye Nation, welcome back a LEGEND to our staff as an assistant coach
https://t.co/IFQVoFKLm5#GoBucks | #DevelopedHere pic.twitter.com/UmiURZFmRH
Sheldon, who will continue to play in the WNBA after just completing her rookie season with the Dallas Wings, had originally planned to play overseas during the WNBA offseason with the Townsville Fire in Australia’s WNBL. Now, however, Sheldon will be in Columbus when it’s not WNBA season as Ohio State’s new director of player development.
She couldnt stay away
— Ohio State Womens Basketball (@OhioStateWBB) November 11, 2024
Welcome back to one of the best to ever do it in an Ohio State uniform.
Our new Director of Player Development, Jacy Sheldon
https://t.co/55h6pW3Lf1#GoBucks | #DevelopedHere pic.twitter.com/0Qq5PWCI0U
For both of them – two of Ohio State’s best women’s basketball players ever – their love of their alma mater and their Ohio roots were big factors in their decision to rejoin the program they once played for.
Although it’s been nearly 30 years since Smith played for the Buckeyes (1992-96), the Basketball Hall of Famer has never stopped considering Columbus her home. She continued to live in Columbus during the WNBA offseason, and returning to Ohio State will allow the Logan, Ohio, native to spend more time with her family year-round.
“I got married a year ago. I have a seventh grader. I have a freshman here at Ohio State. My parents are getting older,” Smith said. “You can't get these years back.”
That said, Smith – who has never coached at the collegiate level before – also chose to join the Buckeyes because of how much she loves Ohio State. She’s remained close to the program ever since she played for the Buckeyes and had conversations with McGuff in recent years about the possibility of joining the staff. The timing worked out for both parties for Smith to return to OSU now, and she couldn’t be happier to be back at the university that’s near and dear to her heart.
“I'm a Buckeye through and through. Kind of everything I do, I represent Ohio State,” Smith said. “Ohio State has given me so much, and all I want to do is be a vessel for their journey. It's not my journey anymore. My job is to give them anything and everything. Whatever they do with that, it's going to be theirs, but I want to be a positive influence because basketball has been so awesome to me. The women's game is amazing, and I want Ohio State to continue to grow and thrive. They've had success and I want it to blow out of the water.”
The same is true for Sheldon, who is back at Ohio State just months after finishing her playing career with the Buckeyes.
Sheldon’s return to Ohio State came about in part due to injury. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft battled a lower-leg injury during her first season with the Wings, preventing her from playing in Australia. While she was disappointed that she didn’t get that opportunity, she’s happy it led to the job she has now with the Buckeyes.
While Sheldon had been focused on her playing career and also aspires to get into broadcasting, she said coaching had been in the back of her mind. So when McGuff offered her the opportunity to start her coaching career with the team she spent the past five years with, she felt like she couldn’t pass it up.
“I love Ohio State. It's always going to be home. And once I saw the opportunity there, I had to take it,” Sheldon said. “Especially this group, they're really special. And they're so young that their potential’s already so high and they have so much more to go. And I think just being a part of that and being able to be a part of the game in a different way and affect these women in a different way was awesome for me and I'm excited.”
Like Smith, Sheldon’s return to Ohio State also means being able to spend more time with family for the Dublin, Ohio, native. Her younger sister Emmy, who’s been a constant presence around the program in recent years, is particularly excited that Jacy is back with the Buckeyes, and Ohio State is excited that the Sheldon family will remain regulars at games.
“We love Emmy. It's hard to have a bad day when she's around, because she’s got such a positive spirit and positive energy,” McGuff said.
Given their experience as program greats and in the WNBA, Smith and Sheldon project to be major assets for the Buckeyes both in coaching and recruiting. McGuff indicated that Smith will work closely with Ohio State’s post players. Sheldon won’t be as directly involved with coaching players on the court but will work hand in hand with the full-time coaches on putting together development plans for each player while also serving as a mentor to the players, many of whom she used to be teammates with.
Both will elevate the program’s credibility on the recruiting trail as Ohio State pursues players with aspirations of playing in the WNBA. McGuff also believes hiring them will help foster continued growth for Ohio State women’s basketball in terms of fan support, given both of their established presences within the community.
“At the forefront of what I want this program to be about is our ability to impact young women both on the court and off the court, and so every decision I make in terms of hiring is based on that. And I think both Katie and Jacy will be extremely impactful with our current players in helping them become who they're capable of being,” McGuff said.
Both new assistants are likely to have more opportunities come their way in the future, whether that be head coaching offers for Smith or additional playing opportunities for Sheldon. But both of them feel Ohio State is exactly where they need to be right now.
While Smith didn’t dismiss the possibility of pursuing another head coaching job in the future, she says she’s fully content with being an assistant right now.
“I am very comfortable where I'm at in this time of life … Yeah, there's opportunities and whatnot, but work-life balance has just been a big thing,” Smith said. “I think honestly, where I'm at in my life right now, (becoming a head coach is) just not as tempting as probably most people would think. This was the exact fit and just really thankful that the timing worked out.”
Sheldon believes being back at Ohio State will help her achieve success in the WNBA as she’ll be able to work with Ohio State’s staff – including Smith – on growing her own game while gaining a new perspective from helping the current Buckeyes develop theirs.
“Just being a part of the game in a different way and a different perspective I think is going to help me develop my WNBA play even more. So I'm looking forward to that,” Sheldon said. “And then being at Ohio State, they're already helping me a ton with rehab and being great in that process as well. And then once I'm healthy and can get back on the floor, obviously I'll work over to skill work and being able to work with my trainer and work out here as well. So I think it's going to be a good balance for me, a healthy balance, and hopefully I'll learn a little bit on the other side of it, too.”
