Two of the greatest athletes in Northern Colorado history apparently met long ago.
Legendary basketball player and now coach Becky Hammon shared a post on Instagram Monday of a picture of her with a young Sophia Smith, who is currently starring with the U.S. women’s national soccer team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In the undated photo, Hammon shares smiles with Sophia and sisters Savannah and Gabrielle.
“So besides this throw back making me feel OLD, this pic also made me smile!!” Hammon captioned the photo. “I literally just saw Sophia Smith get interviewed, and this popped up on my phone!! Never know what may lie inside a little girl….. GREATNESS!!!”
The Smith’s grew up as a big basketball family before Sophia deviated to soccer stardom. Hammon was a superstar at Colorado State from 1995-99 (Smith was born in 2000), and she also briefly played for the Colorado Chill, a northern Colorado pro team in the early 2000s.
Hammon is now a basketball Hall of Famer and the coach of the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA. Smith is helping lead the attack for the USWNT in the Paris Olympics. She scored two goals in Sunday’s group stage win over Germany.
The USWNT next plays at 11 a.m. Mountain Wednesday against Australia to close out group play. The Americans have already qualified for the quarterfinals.
Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle on X and Instagram @Kevin_Lytle.
