Kim (Smith) Gaucher To Be Part Of Pac-12’s First All-Female Hall Of Honor Class
Feb 23, 2023, 12:14 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – The Pac-12 announced their first-ever all-female Hall of Honor class in recognition of 50 years of Title IX and Utah women’s basketball star Kim (Smith) Gaucher is among the inductees.
Gaucher along with the other 11 other inductees will be honored in a special ceremony on March 3, 2023 at the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament. The 2023 class also will be celebrated during halftime of the day’s first semifinal matchup at Michelob Ultra Arena inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The Hall of Honor was created to celebrate the illustrious history of the Conference of Champions, as the Pac-12 leads all conferences with 546 national titles across 29 sports which equates to over 200 more than the next league.
𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹-𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗰-𝟭𝟮 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿! 🥇
2023 class has been announced & will be inducted on Friday, March 3 as part of #Pac12WBB Tourney week!#BackThePac x #TitleIX50https://t.co/NyYRP0ieiS
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) February 23, 2023
Kim (Smith) Gaucher’s Contributions As A Ute
Gaucher is already a member of the Crimson Club Hall of Fame and stands as one of the most decorated student-athletes in Utah Athletics history.
Through her playing time from 2002-2006, Gaucher was named Player of the Year in the Mountain West Conference all four years she played. She won the title outright twice and tied for it twice while also earning third-team All-America honors as a senior in 2006.
What an amazing career @8kimsmith had at the @UUtah!!
She embodied excellence on and off the court and we are thrilled to see her honored by the @pac12 in this year's Hall of Honor ceremony!@UtahWBB | #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/grPO5awusS
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) February 23, 2023
To this day, Gaucher is the all-time leading scorer for the women’s basketball program with 2,281 points to her name. Gaucher was also a four-time Honorable Mention WBCA All-American, a CoSIDA Academic All-American and one of only two Utes to be named conference player of the year four times.
After her playing days were over, Gaucher came back to Utah and used her bachelor’s degree in communications to serve as director of community relations for Utah women’s basketball program from 2013-15.
Gaucher’s incredible career at Utah made her a no-brainer to be the first female student-athlete for the Utes to have her jersey retired.
Kim (Smith) Gaucher In The WNBA, Olympics
Gaucher was picked up by the Sacramento Monarchs with the 13th pick of the first-round in the 2006 WNBA Draft. Later on she was acquired by the Phoenix Mercury in 2009.
Gaucher would also captain the Canadian National Team beginning in May 2000, and was the team’s leading scorer while helping the team to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was Team Canada’s best finish since 1980. Gaucher continued to play for Team Canada in the 2016 Rio Games and the 2021 Tokyo Games.
The talented shooting guard has also lent her services to Team Canada in the FIBA AmeriCup in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015, along with the Pan-American Games in 2015.
2023 Pac-12 Hall of Honor Class
Gaucher will be joined by Arizona’s Susie Parra (softball), ASU’s Jackie Johnson-Powell (women’s track & field), Cal’s Dr. Luella Lilly (athletic administration), Colorado’s Ceal Barry (women’s basketball coach/athletic administration), Oregon’s Janie Takeda Reed (softball), Oregon State’s Dr. Mary Budke (women’s golf), Stanford’s Jessica Mendoza (softball), UCLA’s Natalie Williams (women’s basketball/volleyball), USC’s Barbara Hallquist DeGroot (women’s tennis), Washington’s Danielle Lawrie (softball), and Washington State’s Sarah Silvernail (women’s volleyball).
Collectively as a group, these women have a combined 33 All-American accolades, 32 years’ worth of service in athletic department administration, 19 national titles won as student-athlete or administrator (individual & team combined), six annual recognitions as top collegiate athlete in a sport, five Olympic medals, one Pac-12 Player of the Decade, and one WNBA championship as a General Manager.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
