Breaking News: Tubby Smith Heading To Minnesota
According to ESPN.com, Tubby Smith has left UK for Minnesota.
Tubby Smith is leaving Kentucky to take over the head coaching job at Minnesota, multiple sources told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz on Thursday.
Smith had four years remaining on his Kentucky contract.
Smith has met with Kentucky players and athletic director Mitch Barnhart. He is expected to fly to Minnesota later Thursday afternoon.
Smith called former Minnesota coach Dan Monson early Thursday and told him he was accepting the job. Minnesota is expected to pay Smith $1.8 million per year.
Wow, I’m shocked! Of all the things that could happen regarding Tubby, this is not one I anticipated. Let the speculation begin - the next coach (Donovan? Travis Ford?) and which players will stay or jump ship (Morris? Crawford?).
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Mar 22nd, 2007 at 16:10:31
I’m surprised at how quick this happened. They asked this morning to talk with him, and by 3:30 he’s on a plane leaving Lexington. I’ve also seen Notre Dame’s coach listed (can’t think of his name), Gonzaga coach Mark Few, and even ol’ Rick Pitino’s name listed. I have no clue who’s gonna stay or go. I just hope the next coach recruits well, and won’t let KY players sign with other colleges (Chris Loftin, etc.). I wish Tubby luck as a Golden Gopher.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 16:11:40
Just read my post and the time stamp is wrong. It hasn’t made the jump to Daylight Savings Time.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 16:39:47
Hurray!!!!! I’m so happy! I’m with Tim, I hope he does well up in Minnesota…but I’m glad to see him go. Time to get UK basketball back to where it should have been!
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 18:12:50
Fixed the time stamp…forgot to change that previously.
Tubby was a decent coach. My biggest complaints were his substitution patterns and recruiting. Yeah, hopefully we can recruit the Loftons and Hansbroughs now… I’m sure Tubby will flourish now that he’s aware from all the pressure that comes with being a UK coach.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 18:16:49
I’m seeing some talk about John Calipari, too. I hope not…I’m not a big fan of him.
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 22:14:48
calipari is a sleaze ball! and i don’t really want pitino back either. he was good while he was here, but from what i heard tubby treated his players alot better than pitino did. that’s really a bummer that tubby’s leaving, but i do agree that he had some trouble recruiting. that is my only criticism. i wish him the best and hate to see him go.
Mar 23rd, 2007 at 08:19:03
I wouldn’t mind Pitino coming back. I loved Pitino ball - the press, shooting 3s, the hustle, etc. Yeah, I heard he was tough on the players, but he got results.
This article on ESPN says it well:
“On the shock scale, this was a 16-seed over a 1-seed. In a sport where coaches are always craving bigger paychecks and better jobs and more prestige, this was a clear (and voluntary) swan dive down the ranks by Smith. You just don’t see coaches leave one of the flagship programs for a school that hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in a decade — and cheated the last time it did win.”
Mar 23rd, 2007 at 12:19:52
Pitino rocked on O & D. However, even with that, he was a pretty mean dude from what people say, and la de da, I was always a big fan o’ Trav-o, so I wouldn’t mind a Ford driving UK to their next SEC title. Of course, if Billy made the jump, that would be pretty cool too.
Mar 24th, 2007 at 00:40:05
You know, I heard that Pitino has changed since the time he was with UK. After he lost his brother-in-law on Sept. 11, 2001, he supposedly gained a new perspective on life, or something like that, so maybe he’s treating the players better now…
Mar 24th, 2007 at 12:19:41
I love Pitino’s style of ball and definitely that is something we need in a new coach, but I don’t think Pitino should come back. He is at Louisville in the grand state of Kentucky, which I think his return to the Bluegrass was a positive statement, even if it was to rival UofL. He could have made the move almost anywhere and he decided to return. The bickering and crap that would start between fans and the pressure by UK fans as soon as he did not produce like before would be embarrassing and not worth it. I hope Pitino stays were he is and continues to build a wonderful program at UofL. (Random Side note: During UofL’s trip to Lexington, they made a stop over in Georgetown for practice.)
It would be great to get Travis Ford back to Kentucky, but I really think Tubby’s departure was a couple years premature for Travis. I could definitely be wrong though. And if you haven’t viewed Travis’ stats take a look Ford Stats. Quite impressive to see how he has improved at ever school after the first year or two. Ford is definitely going to be a strong coach of the future.