Girls basketball: Marin Catholic’s Smith headlines 2023 Hall class

Brooke Smith Easter is already a member in some exclusive clubs, and she’s about to join another as one of the Class of 2023 Marin Athletic foundation Hall of Fame inductees.

“For me, this feels like a circle coming around,” Smith Easter said of the honor. “I have such fond memories of Marin and the people who I played with and who coached me. I look back on that time playing youth and high school basketball and everything it gave me.”

Smith Easter is among the seven former athletes in this year’s Hall of Fame class, which also features Ralph Brott, George Cagle, Christine Choppelas, Liz Hartmann, Hal Schulz and Wendy Von Fries, along with coaches Mike Crivello and Michael Evans, with special recognition to Bob MacLean.

The ceremony is scheduled for Saturday at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael.

“When she first got to high school, Brooke was kind of quiet. She was not a person who felt she’d be the leader of a team. She wanted to be part of a team, but not the focal point,” said Rick DeMartini, who coached Smith Easter at Marin Catholic and nominated her for induction to the hall of fame. “The more she played and the more experience she got, the faster and stronger she got and the more confidence she felt in herself to do what needed to do.”

Smith Easter developed into a dominant player, capable of posting triple- and even quadruple-doubles on the scoresheet. She was surrounded by a core talented players — including Nickie Warren, Adrienne Payne and Lauren Michalski — with whom she played since her freshman season, Together they claimed the CIF State Division IV championship in 2002, her senior campaign.

“When those big games started to happen, when she was a sophomore, Brooke knew what she was capable of and she was hard on herself if she felt she didn’t play to that potential,” said DeMartini, who coached the 2002 championship team.

Smith Easter still holds the Marin Catholic school record for most career points (1,778), most career field goals made (715), most free throw attempts in a game (20), rebounds in a season (435) and career rebounds (1,491), steals in a season (130) and career (412), blocks in a game (9), blocks in a season (138) and career blocks (468).

For three consecutive years, she reset the school’s scoring records: 491 points in 1999-2000, 514 points in 2000-01, then 503 points in 2001-02. Her single-season scoring records were later bested by Casey Lockwood (2002-03), Michelle Gage (2003-04) and Emily Easom (twice, from 2010-12).

“I don’t know if some of Brooke’s records will ever be broken,” DeMartini said.

Smith Easter followed a record-setting basketball career at Marin Catholic with a season at Duke University before transferring to Stanford, where she was a three-time All-Pac 10 honoree. She finished her Cardinal career with 1,520 points and tied the school single-game record for steals with seven.

“Some 20 years after high school, the games are a bit of a blur but the memories are meaningful,” Smith Easter said. “Playing youth, high school, college basketball and in the pros, they’re all different and wonderful in their own way. But playing in Marin, that’s when I grew to love basketball. My older sister played and I’d shoot baskets on the court at halftime. With my teammates and coaches Mike Fulton, Andy Crivello and Rick DeMartini, I loved playing basketball.”

Smith Easter pursued her basketball career to the pros, with three seasons in the WNBA — including a 2009 title with the Phoenix Mercury — and five in Europe, before eventually joining a different team. After earning her Physician’s Assistant degree from Stanford, she became a member of the bone marrow transplant team at Stanford Medical Center.

“When I was playing in the pros, I felt like I was missing out on things at home, things that mattered to me,” Smith Easter said of her decision to enter the medical field. “This is meaningful work and I enjoy it.”