It’s wasn’t too long ago that Bev Smith was leading the Oregon women’s basketball team at MacArthur Court.
Five years later, she’s still coaching students — just not NCAA Division I athletes.
Today, just north of Mac Court, Smith now leads a class through the Student Recreation Center. She teaches a womens only class on the fundamentals of basketball, while creating a team-like environment for many students who cherished their basketball experiences in high school.
“I find it very intriguing to get to know these young women and get to understand why they love the game so much that they’re playing at the university,” Smith said. “For me, basketball is not so much about winning and losing.”
Smith was the Oregon women’s basketball coach for eight years, finishing with a 123-121 record. Under Smith’s watch, the 2004 Oregon team made the NCAA tournament, advancing to the second round.
Smith also played her collegiate career at Oregon from 1978-82. A 6-foot-1-inch forward, she led the program through its most successful era — with the Ducks posting a combined 93-19 record. She holds numerous Oregon records and powered Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Salmon Arm, British Columbia native still resides in Eugene and works as the executive director at Kidsports, a Eugene non-profit that teaches pre-K through 12th graders the value of physical fitness, sportsmanship, practice and teamwork.
She sees her class at Oregon as a chance to learn valuable life skills both on and off the basketball court.
“To be back in an environment of an institution with young, brilliant people and having just a small part to play in their education is really just appealing,” Smith said.
The class, which currently enrolls 11 and is offered during winter and spring terms, works for roughly 25 minutes on the fundamentals of basketball and uses the remainder of the time to scrimmage. She often will pause the scrimmage to teach a lesson or skill that will improve their play.
“It’s really just an honor to learn from all her experience,” Jessica Little said. “I just wish they (the classes) could be three times a week for two hours.”
Senior Hannah Picknell finds herself in a unique situation with the class. Her dream in high school was to play for the Ducks’ collegiate team, but when that didn’t end up working out she knew that she could still gain valuable basketball experience at Oregon with Smith’s class.
“It’s very easy to tell that she has a lot of experience,” Picknell said. “It’s just a lot of fun. It makes the basketball class more fun knowing that you’re learning from somebody who really knows her stuff.”
Despite Smith’s deep ties to Oregon and her success both as an athlete and a coach, she believes her biggest role is to promote growth for her students.
“It’s not about my background, as much as it is, in just trying to provide opportunities for women to discover the love of the game,” Smith said.
“The important part is that I get to be immersed in 50 minutes of their day and sharing a passion that I have,” Smith said. “I just find that very enlightening for me and hopefully allows them to enjoy the game even more.”