BATON ROUGE — LSU softball head coach Yvette Girouard announced the hiring of Megan Smith as an assistant coach for the upcoming season on Monday.
Smith joins the nationally ranked Tiger program from Western Carolina, where she served as the head coach for the inaugural 2006 season. She replaces Lori Osterberg, who resigned to pursue her master’s degree in her home state of Iowa and move into the field of athletics administration.
“We feel extremely fortunate that Megan has joined our staff and our team,” said Girouard. “She has many accomplishments and we feel like she will be an incredible addition to our staff.”
As the head coach for the Catamounts last season, she guided the first year program to their first Southern Conference title, compiling a 41-20 record, including a 16-4 mark in league play. For her success, she was named the 2006 SoCon Coach of the Year.
Her team posted 81 home runs, which ranked third nationally, while WCU ranked 12th in the NCAA in slugging percentage, 19th in scoring, 38th in win-loss percentage and 50th in batting average. Additionally, three players ranked nationally statistically and two were named to the NFCA All-Southeastern Region team.
Hired in July 2004, Smith built the Western Carolina program from the ground up, spending a year and a half to build the program, including the hiring of staff and the recruitment of players, while supervising the construction of a state-of-the-art softball facility.
She was hired to head the Catamount program from the University of North Carolina, where she had also been a player. As an assistant coach for Donna Papa, she helped the Tar Heals with recruiting, fund raising, and oversaw the academic progress of student-athletes, while participating in practice planning and game management.
In 2004, she helped guide the North Carolina program to a 46-24 record, including a second place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while earning an NCAA Regional bid. In addition, she directed the Carolina Softball Camps, overseeing all aspects of the camps.
Prior to her stay at her alma mater, Smith was an assistant coach at Charlotte for the 2002 season. She worked with the infielders, pitchers and served as the hitting coach. The assistant also organized all recruiting efforts for head coach Aimee DeVoss.
For two seasons, Smith served as the head coach at Young Harris College in Georgia from 2000-2001. While there, she guided her program to a 79-41 record. Without an assistant coach, she oversaw all aspects of the team, from practice to strength training to academics to fund raising.
While at Young Harris, she finished second in the regional championships twice and was one game away from the national tournament in 2001. Her team broke nearly every school record, including wins in as season with 45. In addition, in 2002, her squad ranked nationally in batting average and eight players were named to the all-regional team.
During her collegiate career at North Carolina, Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise and Sport Science and Recreation Administration. Playing third base primarily, she served as captain during her senior season and broke the school record for RBIs in a game and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 1999.
Also an exceptional student, the Walkertown, N.C., native was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference honor roll for three year and made the Dean’s List twice. In 2000, she earned her Master’s of Science degree in Human Performance and Sports Studies with a concentration in Sports Management from the University of Tennessee.
On June 19, 2004, she married Paul Buske, and the pair raise two cats, Sammy and Callie, and a dog, Buddy.