Belmont's Kylee Smith
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont’s Kylee Smith garnered Tennessee Sports Writers Association Women’s Basketball Player of the Year honors while Belmont’s Bart Brooks was voted TSWA Coach of the Year, as announced this week by the organization.
Smith and Brooks will be honored during the annual TSWA Hall of Fame dinner and banquet at Cumberland University on Thursday, July 12.
Smith helped the Bruins to a 31-4 overall record, the best mark for the program in the Division I era, along with OVC regular season and tournament championships. The Alpharetta, Ga., native averaged 18.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, registering six double-doubles and 12 games with 20-plus points.
She earned Second Team Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA as well as First Team All-OVC and OVC All-Tournament accolades. She ranks 10th all-time at Belmont in scoring (1,520) points in three seasons and carved her name in Belmont’s record book in eight single-season Top 10 statistical categories.
Belmont's Bart Brooks
Brooks posted a 31-4 mark in his inaugural season as head coach of the Bruins, earning OVC Coach of the Year and Spalding Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year honors. The 31 victories are the most for the Bruins since 1993-94 and the most in the D-I era of the program.
Belmont appeared in the national rankings for the first time in program history as well, spending four weeks in the AP Top 25, reaching as high as No. 22. The Bruins posted a program-best 22-game winning streak during the season and drained 357 3-point field goals, marking both a Belmont and OVC single-season record.
Belmont won its third straight OVC Tournament championship, earning a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and ranked in the Top 10 nationally in nine statistical categories.