Celebrating Pac-12 women's hoops: Cal's Charmin Smith on what's made the conference special

The Pac-12 has stood out as one of the best women’s basketball leagues in the nation over the last two decades. This being the league’s final season, each month the Star is sharing Pac-12-centered stories of former Arizona players, as well as former and current league coaches. Up this week: Cal coach Charmin Smith.

Smith, who took over the top spot at Cal in 2019, was named ESPNW’S Coach of the Week on Monday for Cal’s first Pac-12 sweep since 2018-19 (over the Washington schools) and best 15-game start since 2016-17 season.

She was an assistant then associate head coach for the Golden Bears for a combined 12 years. Prior to that she was an assistant at her alma mater, Stanford. As a player at Stanford from 1993-1997, she went to three Final Fours and won three Pac-10 titles. She also played professionally in the ABL, WNBA and overseas, before starting off her coaching career at Boston College.

Best of the west: “My freshman year. I remember we went down to LA and got swept with Lisa Leslie at USC and Natalie Williams at UCLA and that was a real eye opener for me. Obviously, we rebounded and return the favor when they came to Maples Pavilion. That was kind of my introduction to the Pac-10. And going to Washington that year with Rhonda Smith and Katia Foucade and Tara Davis. That Washington team kicked our butt.

“It started then and then you look at what we have now with such amazing players in our conference. I don’t even know where to begin. There’s the entry of Juju (Watkins, USC), there’s what Cameron Brink (at Stanford) has been able to do over the years. There’s Alissa Pili (Utah). It’s just a really, really powerful conference for women’s basketball. What I like the most about it is just the parity in that we have our top teams but there are teams at the bottom who would not be at the bottom in other conferences.

“I think that’s what sets us apart is that every team is solid. We’ve got really, really good teams and then we’ve got teams that are that had some great pieces and just trying to build. I think that’s really the strength of the conference.”

Cal-Stanford rivalry: “I remember when I was a player, we didn’t we didn’t think much of the Cal game. I think several coaches and players have worked really, really hard to make this this rivalry relevant have it be something that people are excited about every year. We’ve had our turn with Devanei Hampton and Alexis Gray-Lawson, we get the wins over Stanford. Then, obviously with the Final Four group being able to beat Stanford. You think of Mikayla Cowling and Asha Thomas, Kristine Anigwe. People kind of taking their turn and stepping in and creating an energy and a vibe around what we now call the Battle of the Bay.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“It’s always exciting playing against the Ogwumikes, playing against Haley Jones and Cameron Brink. They are just always so good. We’re just working to get to that level and we know we have some steps to take, but we’re always fired up and ready. I think they know that and walking into this game that they have to be prepared.

“One of our goals is to make this trip (to the Bay Area) the hardest trip in the conference. That’s what we always talked about, right? Where people aren’t overlooking us and just worried about Stanford. But knowing that when they come to the Bay, they gotta play Cal and Stanford and be ready. I think we’ve worked really hard to make that happen.”

Great coaches: “Obviously, I grew up playing for (Stanford’s) Tara (VanDerveer), learning from Tara, and her influence is a lot of why I am where I am today. I also have to give credit to Cathy Inglese, Joanne Boyle and Lindsay Gottlieb — the other people that I’ve that I’ve worked for and developing me. I think I’ve been really fortunate to have great head coaches that I’ve worked with and been able to compete against as well.

“Our coaches are another strength of our conference. Game planning for Lynne Roberts and what Utah is doing. Game planning for how aggressive and physical (Colorado’s) Jr Payne’s teams play. Game planning for (UCLA’s) Cori Close and the talent that she’s had. It’s a very talent-filled conference when it comes to coaches as well.”

Taking pride in the Pac: “We’ve been the best consistently for quite some time, from top to bottom, again, from top to bottom. I know the SEC has national champions and South Carolina has been amazing. UConn has had their run but from top to bottom, I think we’ve been a dominant conference. There’s no doubt that the Pac-12 overall for all sports has been the Conference of Champions with the most championships.

“For a while it was it was Stanford that was really dominant and everyone else was trying to catch up but over the past several years, you’ve really seen a lot of teams come to the forefront and have their day in the in the sun so to speak. It’s just a really special conference to be a part of.

“I think about the first time Washington got there (to the Final Four) with Kelsey Plum. When we got there with Layshia (Clarendon), Shonda (Gray) and Brittany (Boyd) and that group. Oregon getting there with Sabrina. It’s just such a cool thing to watch how programs have continued to develop. It’s a shame that it’s ending. It really is a shame. I’m going to miss the Pac-12 and I hope maybe we can get ourselves back together and come back at some point. Realign this thing the way that it should be, because it really was truly something special.”