Union College Athletics

Mike Smith finished his 19th season with the Union College women’s basketball team in 2025-26. Smith is renowned for his individual skill development work, defensive schemes, and mentoring of student athletes both on and off the court.

Smith was a part of the team's record-setting 2025-26 campaign, which saw the Garnet Chargers post a 22-6 record - tied for the second-most wins in a season in program history - and sweep the Liberty League regular-season and tournament championships for the second time ever. Union captured the program's second conference tournament title and first since 2004, while the staff was recognized as the D3hoops.com Region 3 Coaching Staff of the Year and the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year. Individually, senior Jelena Perovic was named a WBCA All-America honorable mention and earned D3hoops.com All-Region honors alongside sophomore Olivia Cunningham, with the pair also honored as the Liberty League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.

In addition to the more than 150 victories Smith has been a part of at Union, few coaches have come at the collegiate level with the sterling reputation that Smith earned prior to his arrival at Union.  He remains one of the winningest coaches in New York State Girls High School Basketball history, amassing more than 300 victories at the helm of the Cohoes and Shaker Varsity Basketball programs prior to joining the Union Staff.  Included in these victories are four league championships, two sectional championships and a slew of NYSPHSAA Top 10 victories.

Smith plays an integral role in scouting and game planning as well as player development and resides in Latham, N.Y.