(Updated with New Information)
Karl Smesko, longtime FGCU women’s basketball coach, announced that he is leaving the team effective immediately for the WNBA.
The departure comes after the Eagles dropped their first two games of the season to Davidson College and the University of Columbia on the road. Players were notified about the departure at a walkthrough earlier this morning.
“I am humbled and honored to be the head coach of the Atlanta Dream,” Karl Smesko said. “I am grateful for a remarkable 23 years at FGCU and will be forever indebted to the amazing women who have played for me, the incredible professionals who have coached with me, and the passionate fanbase who supported us along the way.”
Smesko has built up the Eagles program from the ground up. He’s won 14 ASUN Regular Season titles, 11 ASUN Conference titles, 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and four NCAA Tournament wins over his tenure.
He leaves NCAA Women’s Basketball as the third-winningest active coach with a 672-137 (.832) record, eighth all-time. Smesko sparked the ‘Raining Threes’ adage at FGCU off his coaching style which is based around the three-point line. He coached the Eagles into leading the nation in three-pointers seven times and set the record with 431 in 2017-18.
“This is an exciting moment for our fans, the city of Atlanta, and the entire Dream organization,” said Atlanta Dream Majority Owner, Larry Gottesdiener. “A great basketball mind is coming to our city. Karl’s passion for and commitment to women’s basketball brings out the best in everyone around him. I am confident we have found the right leader to take our organization to the next level.”
The Atlanta Dream fired former Tanisha Wright earlier last month after losing in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs for the second straight year. This marked a record number of openings in the WNBA this season with seven teams having head coach vacancies. They look to Smesko to turn their franchise around.
“I’m thankful to the leadership of the Atlanta Dream for their faith in me to lead this organization into the future and can’t wait to get started,” Smesko said.
With the departure of Smesko, FGCU Athletic Director Colin Hargis announced that Associate Head Coach Chelsea Lyles will take over as the head coach of the FGCU women’s basketball program.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I announce 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 last 16 years. She is prepared to lead the Eagles in the next chapter of our women’s basketball program and I am excited for our student-athletes to learn from Coach Lyles’ leadership.”
Lyles is a former player of Smesko at FGCU and looks to continue the legacy that Smesko has built up at Fort Myers, Florida.
“Chelsea will do an outstanding job,” Smesko said. “There couldn’t be anybody more ready for this opportunity.”
Lyles will make her head coaching debut against former ASUN Conference foe the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders on Sunday, Nov. 17 for the team’s home opener. They look to turn their historic 0-2 start around in front of their home crowd.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Lyles made her first public appearance since being announced as FGCU’s women’s basketball head coach. She introduced herself to the Dirty Birds during halftime of the FGCU men’s home opener.
“”I want to start by sharing my whole appreciation for Coach Smesko, for mentoring me these past 16 years from a player to a coach, and preparing me for this moment,” Lyles said. “I am prepared, and I am ready.”
She has been apart of the women’s basketball staff since 2010-11, working herself up from a student worker to the head coach of the team she played colligate ball for.
“She’s one of us,” Colin Hargis, FGCU athletic director, said. “To me, that’s a testament of FGCU. You can come here, you can be a student-athlete, you can earn your degree, you can grow as a person, as an individual, and now, as a professional. She’s a role model. When you talk about the young women who are a part of this campus community, a part of our athletics department, you can look at Chelsea Lyles and say, she did it, I can do it too.”
Over her tenure as a a player Lyles holds a 50-12 record, had 21 games where she produced double-digit points, as a senior, and was named a two-time All-ASUN Selection. She looks to continue her success as well as the team’s success into their team open on Sunday.
“The expectations are still the same,” Lyles said. “We’re still striving for excellence, and we are still have the same goals that we’ve always had. That does not change, and my work ethic doesn’t change, and I’m going to work even harder just to make sure that they have a special season this year.”
