University of North Carolina Athletics
Two Former Players Join UNC Staff
August 13, 2003 | Softball
Aug. 13, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Two former Tar Heel softball players have joined the team's coaching staff, North Carolina head coach Donna J. Papa announced Tuesday. Beverly Smith and Megan Smith (no relation to each other) will serve as assistant softball coaches.
"I'm so excited to have Beverly and Megan as part of the staff," said Papa, who is in her 20th year at UNC and coached both of her assistants. "As players here, they epitomized the kind of student-athletes we want to have representing UNC. Since graduating, both have become outstanding, experienced coaches."
Beverly Smith will coach the team's pitchers and serve as the recruiting coordinator. Megan Smith will work with the infield and will direct camps and clinics, as well as assisting with recruiting.
Beverly Smith rejoins the staff after a one-year absence, during which she remained active in softball. She instructed pitchers at clinics, provided private lessons and spoke at coaching clinics. She also obtained her insurance license. A 1994 UNC graduate, she first joined the Tar Heel staff in 1998 after coaching on the high school level in Texas. She was an assistant coach at Carolina for four seasons, including 2001, when the program won its first conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
A standout player from 1991-94, Beverly Smith was the first Tar Heel to earn Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors. As a senior in 1994, she also earned All-Southeast Region honors. She ranks among the program's top 10 in numerous career batting and pitching categories including RBI's (second), total bases (fourth), ERA (fifth) and innings pitched (sixth). In 2002, she was named one of the top 50 softball players in ACC history.
Megan Smith, a 1999 Carolina graduate, has spent the past year as an assistant coach at UNC Charlotte. Prior to that, she was head coach at Young Harris College from 2000-02. During her two seasons there, the team set numerous school records and in 2002 finished 11th in the nation with a team batting average of .361. She earned a master's degree in human performance and sports studies from the University of Tennessee in 2000.
Megan Smith played for UNC from 1996-99 and served as a team captain in her senior year. She still holds the school record for RBI's in a game with seven against Marshall in 1997 and was named the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1999.
