November 13, 2024
Atlanta Dream hire Florida Gulf Coast’s Karl Smesko as head coach
Smesko brings player development, decades of winning to Dream
Karl Smesko will become the Atlanta Dream’s next head coach, the team announced Wednesday.
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Smesko’s hire comes after the Dream parted ways with head coach Tanisha Wright following three seasons in October. Smesko will take over an Atlanta franchise that was eliminated by the eventual WNBA champion New York Liberty in the first round of this year’s WNBA playoffs.
“I’m thankful to the leadership of the Atlanta Dream for their faith in me to lead this organization into the future and can’t wait to get started,” Smesko said in the team’s press release. “I am humbled and honored to be the head coach.”
Smesko will lead the Dream after coaching women’s college basketball for 23 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast, steering a program that began on the NAIA D-II level and built into a perennial team in the women’s NCAA tournament. Before FGCU, Smesko entered the coaching ranks as a head coach at Walsh University (1997-98), before spending one year as an assistant at Maryland (1998-99) under women’s basketball hall of fame coach Chris Weller and two seasons at Indiana’s Purdue Fort Wayne.
After more than two decades of coaching experience, Smesko exits the collegiate ranks with 672 wins—the eighth most among active head coaches—and the third highest winning percentage (.843) among NCAA’s Division I women’s college basketball. He trails only UConn’s Geno Auriemma and LSU’s Kim Mulkey.
At FGCU, Smesko led the Eagles to 14 Atlantic Sun regular season titles, 11 ASUN tournament championships, 14 consecutive 25-win seasons and 10 NCAA tournament appearances.
“I am grateful for a remarkable 23 years at FGCU and will be forever indebted to the amazing women who have played for me, the incredible professionals who have coached with me, and the passionate fanbase who supported us along the way,” Smesko said.
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In October, following Atlanta moving on from Wright, Dream general manager Dan Padover said the franchise’s next coach would be someone “with a lot of creativity” as well as a coach who brought “joy to the players, the fan base” and someone who could “elevate the team to the next level.”
Smesko is no stranger to his success on the hardwood. However, his massive amount of wins stems from his talent for player development and building relationships between his players and his coaching staff. Currently, 22 of his former players are coaching, which includes three assistants on the Eagles’ coaching staff.
In addition, three more of his former assistant coaches are in head coaching roles on the collegiate.
“We are excited to have Karl [Smesko] bring his incredible basketball IQ to the Dream,” Dream general manager Dan Padover said in the team’s press release on Wednesday. “Karl is a proven leader with a history of developing his players and creating a winning culture.”
The Dream will hold a formal press conference to introduce Smesko as the franchise’s head coach next week.
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Written by Wilton Jackson
Wilton Jackson II covers the Atlanta Dream and the SEC for The Next. A native of Jackson, Miss., Wilton previously worked for Sports Illustrated along with other media outlets. He also freelances for different media entities as well. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in multimedia journalism (broadcast) before earning a Master's degree in mass communication from LSU and a second Master's degree in sport management from Jackson State University.
