POMONA – The Cal Poly Pomona Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and the women's basketball team announced the hiring of Julia Smith as the newest assistant coach for the Broncos.
 
"I am grateful to Head Coach Danelle Bishop for the opportunity to join the Bronco family and continue to do what I love," said Smith.  "I truly appreciate the warm welcome I have received from the staff and Director of Athletics Brian Swanson. I am excited and looking forward to working with the players and using all of my experiences to continue the winning tradition here at Cal Poly Pomona on and off the court."
 
Smith comes to CPP with experience at both the Division I and II levels, most recently spending five seasons at PacWest's California Baptist University. During her time there, the Lancers were a 2017 NCAA Elite Eight participant, claimed back-to-back PacWest and West Region titles and in 2015, finished as runner-ups in the NCAA Championship tournament.
 
Her main responsibilities with the team included on-court focus with the guards and defense, scouting and preparing reports on upcoming opponents, evaluating potential student-athletes, coordinating recruit visits and ensuring participation in community activities from the current athletes, among other duties.
 
"Julia is hands down one of the top DII assistants in the Western Region," said Coach Bishop. "She has had tremendous success with her student-athlete's doing great things both on and off the court. She knows how to recruit, will help a ton with offensive and defensive strategies, and has high integrity and character.  She is flat out a WINNER.  We couldn't be happier to add to our Bronco Family."
 
Prior to CBU, Smith was an assistant coach and director of basketball operations at the University of California – Irvine where she helped with every aspect of the UCI women's basketball program from 2008-2011. During that span, UCI reached the Big West Conference Tournament three years in a row from 2009-2011.
 
Prior to her coaching career, Smith was a Division I athlete at the University of Washington and at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas. As a Huskie, Smith was named Pac-10 All-Freshman Honorable Mention, earned a starting spot seven games into the season and led her team to an NIT tournament appearance.
 
Transferring to UNLV after two seasons, Smith was named UNLV's Defensive Player of the Year her first year on the team. During the 2002-03 season, Smith was UNLV's Co-MVP, led the team in assists and steals, and was selected as the Mountain West Conference's Defensive Player of the Year.
 
She graduated from UNLV with B.A. in Liberal Arts before earning her Master's in Kinesiology with an emphasis in sports management at Cal Baptist.