Brooke Smith-Sanders
Union College
Women's Basketball
Class of 2025

Brooke Smith-Sanders exploded on the scene when she took the court for Union College (now known as Union Commonwealth University) as a freshman in 2006. She netted 579 points and grabbed 220 rebounds during the 2006-07 season, leading Union to the AAC Tournament championship and a berth in the NAIA National Championship Tournament. 

Those numbers would prove to be her lowest during her four-year career for the Bulldogs.

The run Union went on during the 2007 AAC Tournament was far from easy for Smith-Sanders and the Bulldogs. Entering as the No. 6 seed, Union defeated the tournament's top three seeds to win the tournament. The Bulldogs opened the tournament with a 78-77 win over No. 3 King before downing No. 2 seed Tennessee Wesleyan 77-64 in the semifinal round. In the championship game, Union scored a 64-53 win over top-seeded Bryan to claim its second-ever tournament crown. Smith-Sanders averaged 23.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game to earn Tournament MVP honors.

Smith-Sanders' trajectory only continued to rise following her first season. She helped Union to two AAC regular-season championships and two tournament championships on her way to becoming the all-time leading scorer in school and conference history, finishing with 2,772 career points. Smith-Sanders also finished with 983 rebounds, 233 blocks, 137 assists, and 133 steals during her four-year tenure.

Her list of accolades is quite extensive and includes:

• Three-time NAIA Third Team All-American
• Three-time AAC Player of the Year
• AAC Freshman of the Year
• Three-time All-AAC First Team
• All-AAC Second Team once
• Three-time AAC All-Academic Team member

Smith-Sanders is also a member of the Union Athletics Hall of Fame and the KHSAA 13th Region Hall of Fame.