Paige Smith to Step Aside as Pirates Head Coach - Seton Hall University Athletics
Smith, who had 17 All-BIG EAST selections and 137 BIG EAST All-Academic team selections during her tenure, has resigned her position after nine seasons to pu...
shupirates.com
South Orange, N.J. - Seton Hall softball head coach Paige Smith has resigned her position after nine seasons to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with her family, Director of Athletics Bryan Felt announced Monday. A national search for Smith's successor will immediately commence.
"We'd like to thank Paige for all her hard work and dedication to the softball program and our student-athletes over the past nine seasons," Felt said. "She led our softball program with the utmost class and grace. We are grateful for her mentorship of our student-athletes and respect her decision to step away to spend more time with her family, and we wish her all the best in her future pursuits."
Smith took over the softball program in 2013 and led the Pirates to two BIG EAST Tournament appearances in her first three seasons. In 2015, she guided the Pirates to 25 wins, 10 of them in BIG EAST play, and a third-place finish in the BIG EAST regular season, the program's highest finish in the conference standings since 2005. The Hall defeated DePaul in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals to advance to the tournament final for the first time since 2005.
During Smith's tenure, Seton Hall had 17 All-BIG EAST selections, including seven to the first team. She recruited and mentored Alexis Walkden, who is the program's all-time single-season home run leader, career runs scored and career walks drawn leader and top five in career batting average, doubles and home runs. Walkden was named the 2015 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and the 2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year. Smith also recruited and developed numerous other Pirates who rank in the program's top 20 in multiple offensive and pitching categories.
Seton Hall softball student-athletes thrived academically while Smith was in charge, as the program had 137 selections to the BIG EAST All-Academic team (3.0 GPA or higher) from 2013 to 2020. Three Pirates were named to the CoSIDA District II All-Academic first team, Walkden was the 2018 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Brittany Hammer was a second-team Academic All-American in 2013.