Karl Smesko is stepping down as women’s basketball head coach

FORT MYERS, Fla. –Florida Gulf Coast University Karl Smesko has announced he is stepping down as the Eagles’ head basketball coach to take the same job with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

“Coach Smesko’s legacy at FGCU is not just about winning games,” said FGCU President Aysegul Timur. “It’s about the students and staff he has mentored along the way and for whom he provides opportunities for growth and success on and off the field. Now it’s his turn to develop and we are so proud of him.”

“There is joy and sadness with the departure of Karl Smesko,” FGCU athletics director Colin Hargis said. “As the founding head coach of our women’s basketball program, Karl led this team to national prominence. He orchestrated the rise of a start-up to a target program. “I am excited for Karl and grateful for his contributions to this department and the university.” “We look forward to seeing what lies ahead and the impact he will have on his next position in the WNBA.”

“I had a great experience at FGCU,” Smesko said. “I am very grateful to all the former players, assistants and administrators who helped make it a great experience for so many years.”
Smesko arrived in Fort Myers in 2002 and was tasked with building the FGCU women’s basketball program from the ground up. In his first year, he led young Division II FGCU to a 30-1 record. Smesko stayed to oversee FGCU’s jump from the Division II ranks to a full-fledged NCAA Division I program, joining the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2007. The Eagles continued to enjoy unmatched success, winning 84 of their first 85 conference home games.

Smesko won 20 or more games each season at FGCU and also posted seven 30-win seasons with the Eagles. Under his 23 years of leadership, FGCU earned the distinction of being the winningest DI program in college basketball history with an all-time winning percentage of .845.

Smesko’s 26-year head coaching resume is among the best in all of women’s college basketball. He spent one year at Walsh and then two at Purdue Fort Wayne before coming to FGCU. He ranks FGCU eighth overall in winning percentage (672-139, .829) in NCAA DI and fourth overall in winning percentage among all active DI women’s basketball head coaches.

Smesko developed FGCU into a mid-major power with his wide-ranging offensive attack. The Eagles led the nation in 3-pointers per game in five of the last seven years. Since 2012, FGCU has led the nation in this category six times and has finished sixth. FGCU broke the NCAA record for most three-pointers in a single season, losing 431 in 2017-18. The style of play brought 14 ASUN regular season titles to Fort Myers, 10 NCAA Tournament berths and four NCAA Tournament victories.

FGCU defeated seven Associated Press Top 25 opponents with Smekso at the helm and posted seven undefeated seasons in the ASUN. The team has won 14 of 17 regular season championships since joining ASUN and has never finished lower than second in the final standings. FGCU emerged as the winningest 12 seed in NCAA Tournament history, defeating Missouri in 2018, Virginia Tech in 2022 and Washington State in 2023. Smesko also led FGCU to a runner-up finish in the WNIT in 2016. FGCU achieved its highest ranking in the AP Poll during the 2014–15 season at No. 21 overall.

Smesko was named ASUN Coach of the Year 13 times and coached 10 ASUN Player of the Year Award winners. Over the years, he hired 24 former players through his outstanding player-to-coach pipeline. Smesko also developed two WNBA draft picks during his time at FGCU. In 2022, Kierstan Bell was selected by the Las Vegas Aces with the 11th overall pick, becoming the first Eagle ever to be selected in the first round and the highest draft pick in program history. Bell is now a two-time WNBA champion with the Aces.

FGCU women’s basketball’s success on the court is almost as great as its success in the classroom. Nine student-athletes have been named to the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team at least once or received a post-graduate scholarship from the organization. Smesko has coached 16 student-athletes to earn ASUN All-Academic Team honors since the award’s inception in the 2011-12 season. FGCU women’s basketball players have been named ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year seven times.

Long-time assistant head coach Chelsea Lyles was named the second head coach in FGCU program history. A 2010 graduate of FGCU, Lyles is a former Smesko player who rose from student assistant to her new position as program leader on the FGCU coaching staff.

“It is with great enthusiasm that I announce this Chelsea Lyles as the second head coach of the FGCU women’s basketball program,” Hargis said. “Chelsea has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to FGCU and the women’s basketball program over the past 16 years.” She is ready to lead the Eagles in the next chapter of our women’s basketball program, and I am pleased that our student-athletes will benefit from Coach Lyles will learn.”

“Chelsea will do an excellent job,” Smesko said. “There couldn’t be anyone more ready for this opportunity.”