Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
title	National Invitation Tournament
logo	National Invitation Tournament.svg
pixels	200px
sport	Basketball
founded	1938
teams	32
champion	Wichita State Shockers
most champs	6 – St. John's
website	http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-men/nit
tv	ESPN
related comps	NIT Season Tip-OffNCAA Men's Division I Basketball ChampionshipCollege Basketball InvitationalCollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament
founder	Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association }}

The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off (formerly the Preseason NIT), was founded in 1985. The second, the original NIT, is a post-season tournament played in March and April that is now called the MasterCard NIT; it was founded in 1938. In both cases, the final rounds of the tournament are played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In both common and official usage, "NIT" or "National Invitation Tournament" refers to the post-season tournament unless otherwise qualified. Both the pre- and post-season tournaments were operated by the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA) up until 2005, when they were purchased by the NCAA.

History

The post-season NIT, started in 1938, pre-dates the NCAA Tournament by one year and is second in age only to the NAIA Tournament, which was founded by James Naismith in 1937. This first National Invitation Tournament was won by the Temple University Owls over Colorado.

The NIT was originated by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association in 1938. Responsibility for its administration was transferred two years later to local colleges, first known as the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Committee and in 1948, as the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA), which comprised representatives from five New York City schools: Fordham University, Manhattan College, New York University, St. John's University and Wagner College. Originally all of the teams qualifying for the tournament were invited to New York City, and all games were played at Madison Square Garden.

The men's tournament originally consisted of only 6 teams, which later expanded to 8 teams in 1941, 12 teams in 1949, 14 teams in 1965, 16 teams in 1968, 24 teams in 1979, 32 teams in 1980, 40 teams from 2002 through 2005, and 64 teams in 2006. The tournament reverted to 32 teams for 2007.

In the tournaments' early years, the NIT often drew some of the nation's best collegiate basketball teams for several reasons. First, there was limited national media coverage of college basketball, therefore playing in "The Big Apple" provided tremendous media exposure for the team and players. This facilitated coaches exposure to the rich recruiting territory of New York City and allowed for players hoping for a shot at the NBA an opportunity to play before scouts in the largely east coast dominated league. Additionally, the NCAA was originally a tournament mostly among conference winners. Thus, the slots were limited as teams were selected from conferences and regional champions and multiple teams from the same conferences were not allowed. In addition, many Eastern teams, who were mainly independents, preferred the reduced travel of playing closer to home in the NIT.

During the NIT's first 15 years or so, the winners were hailed as National Champions by some, and dispute surrounded which tournament champion was superior. The Helms Athletic Foundation, which independently selected an annual college basketball national champion, chose the NIT champion over the NCAA champion only once, in 1939, while selecting ''neither'' tournament champion three times (1940, 1944, 1954). In addition, from 1943 to 1945 during World War II, the American Red Cross sponsored a game between that year's NCAA and NIT champions to raise money for the war effort. In all three years that the charity contest was played, the NCAA champion prevailed.

Several teams played in both tournaments in the same year. Duquesne in 1940 was the first to do so. In 1944 and 1948, the NCAA tournament champions ''lost'' their first games in the NIT tournament. In 1950, City College of New York won both the NIT and the NCAA tournaments in the same season and remains the only school to accomplish that feat. By the late 1960s, however, the NCAA tournament was becoming the unquestioned premier college tournament. The NCAA began expanding the field to include more teams, and over time the NIT was relegated more and more to its current status as a "consolation" tournament. However, as late as 1970, Coach Al McGuire of Marquette, the 8th-ranked team in the final AP poll of the season, spurned an NCAA bid in protest of his team's placement in the Midwest Region, where his team would have to play games farther away from home than it would if it were in the Mideast Region. The team played in the NIT instead, which it won. Such an action would be a violation of NCAA rules today, which prohibits the rejection of NCAA tournament bids.

NCAA takes control

In 2005, the NCAA purchased 10-year rights to the NIT from the MIBA for $56.5 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit, which had actually come to trial and was being argued until very shortly before the settlement was announced. The MIBA alleged that compelling teams to accept invitations to the NCAA tournament even if they preferred to play in the NIT was an illegal use of the NCAA's powers. (This rule was instituted after Al McGuire's aforementioned snub in 1970.) In addition, it argued that the NCAA's expansion of its tournament to 65 teams was designed specifically to bankrupt the NIT. As part of the purchase of the NIT by the NCAA, the MIBA disbanded for the 10-year duration.

The reputation of the NIT

The status of the post-season National Invitation Tournament as a "consolation" fixture has led to somewhat of a stigma in the minds of many fans. When teams with tenuous hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth lose away from home late in the season, opposing fans may taunt the players in the closing seconds with the prospect of having to play in the NIT. This is done regardless of whether the home team is headed for the NCAA Tournament or not. Irv Moss, a journalist for the ''Denver Post'', once wrote of such a taunt to a defeated team, "The three-letter word... was far more cutting than any four-letter word they could have hollered."

Since the post-season NIT consists of teams who failed to receive a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the NIT has been humorously nicknamed the "Not Invited Tournament", "Never Important Tournament", "Nobody's Interested Tournament", "No Important Team", "National Insignificant Tournament," or simply "Not In Tournament". It has also been seen as nothing more than a tournament to see who the "69th best team" in the country is (since there are now 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament). However, proponents of the NIT often point out that many of the NCAA Tournament participants would likely not win the NIT. Because 31 of the teams earn automatic bids in the NCAA Tournament (regardless of their national ranking), the claim that the NIT determines the "69th best team" can be seen as spurious since an automatic bid NCAA Tournament team may be weaker than a NIT Team.

David Thompson, an All-American player from North Carolina State, called the NIT "a loser's tournament" in 1975. N.C. State, which had been the previous year's NCAA champion, refused to play in the tournament that year, setting something of a precedent. In succeeding years, other teams such as Oklahoma State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Georgetown have declined to play in the NIT when they did not make the NCAA tournament. One such team was Maryland; after being rejected by the NCAA selection committee in 2006, head coach Gary Williams announced that 19-11 Maryland would not go to the NIT, only to be told that the university had previously agreed to use Comcast Center as a venue for the NIT. The Terrapins were eliminated in the first round by the Manhattan College Jaspers. In 2008, however, Williams announced that if invited, the Terps would play, because it would serve as a chance to further develop six freshman players on his squad and to give senior forward James Gist more exposure. At UCLA's famous Pauley Pavilion, there are individual championship banners for all 11 NCAA titles, various other banners touting many other NCAA and other tournament championships for other sports, but no mention of UCLA's 1985 NIT championship.

For other teams, however, the NIT is perceived as a step up in a program climbing from mediocrity or obscurity, and the response is more enthusiastic. For example, at the University of Tulsa, which won the NIT in 1981 and 2001, the Golden Hurricane's NIT "championship tradition" is viewed with pride and as a "lure" for players to join the program.

The NIT Season Tip-Off carries no such stigma, and is one of many popular season-opening tournaments held every year around the country (alongside events such as the Maui Invitational and the Great Alaska Shootout).

Selection process

In the past, NIT teams were selected in consultation with ESPN, the television home of the NIT . The goal of the NIT was to sustain the MIBA financially. Therefore, schools selected to play in the NIT were often major conference teams with records near .500 that had large television fan bases and would likely have a respectable attendance for tournament games on their home court. The latter is one reason why New Mexico was invited virtually every year the Lobos had a winning season but failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Seeding considerations and home court advantage included the number of fans willing to show up to each game. In an effort to maintain some quality, a rule saying that a team must have a .500 record to qualify for the NIT was imposed. This prevented ESPN from suggesting major conference teams that finished at or very near the bottom of their conference standings but would likely garner good fan interest.

The NCAA announced a revamped selection process starting with the 2006 tournament. The main highlights are:

Teams are no longer required to have .500 or greater records to receive bids. Even with this change, however, all teams receiving invitations for the NIT have had .500 or greater records.

Similar to the automatic bids the NCAA Tournament grants for all conference tournament champions, all teams that won regular-season conference championships but failed to earn NCAA tournament bids are guaranteed places in the NIT.

In addition, the selection process has been made transparent. ESPN no longer had a hand in the selection of the teams. Instead, a committee of former NCAA head coaches, chaired by Newton, and including Gene Keady (Purdue), Don DeVoe (Tennessee), Rudy Davalos, Les Robinson (NC State), Reggie Minton (Air Force), John Powers and Carroll Williams among others, prepared a list of potential teams in advance. The seeding and balancing process is similar to that of the NCAA tournament, with the exception that higher seeded teams will always host games, unless extenuating circumstances occur. In the past, higher seeded mid-major teams would often be forced to travel to play less highly regarded major conference teams that would be likely to sell more tickets to the game.

ESPN continues to provide television coverage of the tournament. The NIT has a 10-year, $24.1 million contract with ESPN; this compares with the 11-year, $6.2 billion TV contract with CBS for the NCAA tournament.

These changes are intended to encourage participation by good college teams that would rather stay home than play in the NIT – to make it the "Little Dance" instead of the "loser's tournament." Newton stated, "What we want to have is a true basketball event, a real tournament, one where there's no preconceived ideas of who gets to New York. We'd love to have great crowds, but this is not a financial consideration. We want good television coverage, but we're not going to play this thing for television and move games around." Another consideration is that a number one-seeded team that goes to the semifinals will have three home games, which helps ticket sales.

Beginning with the 2007 tournament, the field for the NIT returned to the 32-team field used from 1980 through 2001, eliminating the eight "play-in" opening round where teams played to qualify for second round games against the top eight seeds. The tournament features four eight-team regions. The format did not affect the NIT's automatic bid to any regular-season conference champion that does not make the NCAA's field of 65. Seven teams earned an NIT bid that way in 2006.

A new attendance record for a NIT game was set at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY, March 19, 2007, at the Syracuse-San Diego State game. Syracuse won the game 80-64 with the attendance total of 26,752. The old record of 23,522 was set by Kentucky in 1979.

Women's tournaments

Since the 1970s, there has been a Women's National Invitation Tournament. It began as an eight-team tournament in Amarillo, Texas, expanding to 64 teams by 2010. However, this is affiliated with the NIT in name only. It was not connected with MIBA and was not purchased by the NCAA.

Men's Post-season NIT Championships

ChampionWichita State Shockers men's basketball2009–10 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team2008–09 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball team2007-08 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball teamWest Virginia Mountaineers men's basketballSouth Carolina Gamecocks men's basketballSouth Carolina Gamecocks men's basketballMichigan Wolverines men's basketball ''Vacated (St. John's won)'' Memphis Tigers men's basketballTulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketballWake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketballCalifornia Golden Bears men's basketball ''Vacated (Minnesota won)'' ''Vacated (Michigan won)''

Year	|	Runner-up	MVP
2011 National Invitation Tournament	2011	Wichita State ||	Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball>Alabama	Wichita State Shockers men's basketball>Wichita State
2010 National Invitation Tournament	2010	Dayton ||	2009–10 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team>North Carolina	2009–10 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team>Dayton
2009 National Invitation Tournament	2009	Penn State ||	2008–09 Baylor Bears men's basketball team>Baylor	Jamelle Cornley, Penn State
2008 National Invitation Tournament	2008	Ohio State ||	UMass Minutemen basketball>Massachusetts	Kosta Koufos, Ohio State
2007 National Invitation Tournament	2007	West Virginia ||	Clemson Tigers men's basketball>Clemson	Frank Young (basketball player)>Frank Young, West Virginia
2006 National Invitation Tournament	2006	South Carolina ||	Michigan Wolverines men's basketball>Michigan	Renaldo Balkman, South Carolina
2005 National Invitation Tournament	2005	South Carolina ||	Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball>Saint Joseph's	Carlos Powell, South Carolina
2004 National Invitation Tournament	2004	Michigan ||	Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball>Rutgers	Daniel Horton (basketball)>Daniel Horton, Michigan
2003 National Invitation Tournament	2003	|	Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball>Georgetown	''None''
2002 National Invitation Tournament	2002	Memphis ||	South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball>South Carolina	Dajuan Wagner, Memphis
2001 National Invitation Tournament	2001	Tulsa ||	Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball>Alabama	Marcus Hill, Tulsa
2000 National Invitation Tournament	2000	Wake Forest ||	Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball>Notre Dame	Robert O'Kelley, Wake Forest
1999 National Invitation Tournament	1999	California ||	Clemson Tigers men's basketball>Clemson	Sean Lampley, Cal
1998 National Invitation Tournament	1998	|	Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball>Penn State	''None''
1997 National Invitation Tournament	1997	|	Florida State Seminoles men's basketball>Florida State	''None''
			Erick Strickland, Nebraska
			Shawn Smith, Virginia Tech
			Doremus Bennerman, Siena
			Voshon Lenard, Minnesota
			Bryant Stith, Virginia
			Adam Keefe (basketball)
			Scott Draud, Vanderbilt
			[[Jayson Williams, St. John's
			Phil Gamble, UConn
			Randolph Keys, Southern Miss
			Brad Sellers, Ohio State
			Reggie Miller, UCLA
			Tim McCormick, Michigan
			Greg Stewart, Tulsa
			Ralph Sampson, Virginia
			Butch Carter and Ray Tolbert, Indiana
			Jim Krivacs and Ron Baxter, Texas
			Greg Sanders, St. Bonaventure
			Cedric Maxwell, Charlotte
			Mike Sojourner, Utah
			John Shumate, Notre Dame
			Bill Chamberlain, North Carolina
			Dean Meminger, Marquette
			Terry Driscoll, BC
			Don May, Dayton
			Walt Frazier, S. Illinois
			Ken McIntyre, St. John's
			Levern Tart, Bradley
			Bill Chmielewski, Dayton
			Vin Ernst, Providence
			Lenny Wilkens, Providence
			Hank Stein, Xavier
			Win Wilfong, Memphis State
			Charlie Tyra, Louisville
			Togo Palazzi, Holy Cross
			Walter Dukes, Seton Hall
			Tom Gola and Norm Grekin, La Salle
			Roland Minson, Brigham Young
			Ed Warner, CCNY
			Don Lofgran, San Francisco
			Ed Macauley, Saint Louis
			Vern Gardner, Utah
			Ernie Calverley, Rhode Island
			George Mikan, DePaul
			Bill Kotsores, St. John's
			Harry Boykoff, St. John's
			Rudy Baric, West Virginia
			Frankie Baumholtz, Ohio
			Bob Doll, Colorado
			Don Shields, Temple

See also

NIT bids by school

NIT championships and semifinal appearances

NIT all-time team records

References

External links

Official Site of The National Invitation Tournament

Bloomberg article on NCAA purchase and revamping of NIT

Category:Postseason college basketball tournaments in the United States

de:National Invitation Tournament es:National Invitation Tournament fr:National Invitation Tournament it:National Invitation Tournament pt:National Invitation Tournament fi:National Invitation Tournament

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Orlando "Tubby" Smith
sport	Basketball
| caption	Tubby Smith
birth date	June 30, 1951
birth place	Scotland, Maryland, U.S.
current team	Minnesota
current title	Head coach
awards	Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1994, 1995) SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005) Jim Phelan Coach of the Year (2005)Henry Iba Award (2003)Naismith College Coach of the Year (2003)
championships	NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship: (1998)Regional Championships - Final Four (1998)SEC Tournament (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004)
current record	17-14
overall record	467-198 (.702)
player	*
player years	1969–1973
player teams	High Point
coach	*
coach years	1979–19861986–19891989–19911991–19951995–19971997–20072007–present
coach teams	VCU (asst.)South Carolina (asst.)Kentucky (asst.)TulsaGeorgiaKentuckyMinnesota
baskhof year	}}

Orlando "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the men's basketball head coach at the University of Minnesota. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the University of Georgia, and most recently, University of Kentucky, where he coached the Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA championship.

Over his 18 seasons as a head coach, Smith has had 16 twenty-win seasons. In 2005, he joined Roy Williams, Nolan Richardson, Denny Crum and Jim Boeheim as the only head coaches to win 365 games in 15 seasons or less. Entering the 2007 season, Smith's career record was 387-145 and his .733 winning percentage was eighth among active coaches. With Minnesota's invite to the 2009 NCAA tournament, Smith became the fifth coach to lead four different teams to the NCAA tournament.

Smith's three sons are following in their father's coaching footsteps. "G. G." Smith, who played for his father at the University of Georgia, is currently an assistant coach at Loyola University Maryland. Middle son Saul Smith, who played for his father at the University of Kentucky, has joined his father as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota. Brian, his youngest son, was a point guard at Ole Miss and is an assistant coach at Windermere preparatory school.

Early years

Smith, born in Scotland, Maryland, in Saint Mary's County, is the sixth of 17 children born to sharecroppers Guffrie and Parthenia Smith. His large family accounts for his unusual nickname. Of all the Smith children, Tubby was most fond of staying in the galvanized washtub where the children were bathed. Smith says he tried to shake the moniker several times, but it stuck incessantly. He recalls that a 10^th grade teacher who didn't tolerate nicknames was the last person to call him by his proper name, Orlando.

After having a scholarship offer from the University of Maryland rescinded, Smith enrolled at High Point College (now High Point University), graduating in 1973. He played under three different head coaches at High Point, including future boss J. D. Barnett. He lettered four times and was an all-conference performer as a senior. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education while at High Point, and also met his future wife, Donna, who was the homecoming queen.

After a brief stint in the Air Force, Smith began his coaching career with a four-year stint at his high school ''alma mater'' - Great Mills High School in Great Mills, Maryland, compiling a 46-36 record. His next stop was Hoke County High School in Raeford, North Carolina, where he recorded a 28-18 mark in two seasons.

Assistant coaching positions

Virginia Commonwealth University

At the college level, Smith began as assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University under his former High Point coach J. D. Barnett. From 1979 to 1986, VCU amassed a 144-64 record, winning three Sun Belt Conference Championships.

Smith took two important things away from his experience as an assistant coach for the Rams. First, under Barnett, Smith learned the principles of the ball-line defense, a hallmark of Smith's teams throughout his head coaching career. Second was a relationship with fellow assistant David Hobbs, an assistant and associate head coach under Smith during his tenure at the University of Kentucky.

University of South Carolina

Smith left Virginia Commonwealth in 1986 to join George Felton's staff at the University of South Carolina. Felton remembered Smith from having recruited one of his players while Smith was at Hoke High School. During Smith's three years, the Gamecocks were 53-35. Later, roles would be reversed, with Smith bringing Felton in as an assistant coach at Kentucky.

University of Kentucky

Smith joined the University of Kentucky under then head coach Rick Pitino, who had the challenge of rebuilding a UK program that had been rocked by NCAA probation and player defections.

With only eight scholarship student-athletes, none taller than 6-7, the staff molded the Cats into winners once again, exceeding expectations to record a 14-14 mark. The following year, with Smith promoted to associate coach and UK still on probation, the Wildcats earned a 22-6 record, a final ranking of ninth in the AP poll, and an SEC-best 14-4 record.

Smith wasn't the only soon-to-be high profile name on Pitino's coaching staff at Kentucky. Future head coaches Ralph Willard, Herb Sendek, Billy Donovan, and Bernadette Locke-Mattox were all Smith's colleagues.

Head Coaching Stops

University of Tulsa

From 1991 to 1995, Smith led the Golden Hurricane to a 79-43 record. Rebuilding the basketball program his first two years, he then led the team to two consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles and two appearances in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1994 and 1995. Smith's 1994 Tulsa team upset UCLA in the tourney's first round before knocking off Oklahoma State. In '95, the Golden Hurricane defeated Big Ten team Illinois to open March Madness.

University of Georgia

On March 29, 1995, Smith accepted the head coaching job at the University of Georgia, becoming the school's first African-American head coach. In two seasons, he led the Bulldogs to a 45-19 record, including the first back-to-back seasons of 20 wins or more in school history. His teams achieved a Sweet 16 finish in the 1996 NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs defeated Clemson to open the '96 tournament before upsetting the top-seeded Purdue Boilermakers.

University of Kentucky

Tubby Smith was introduced as the Wildcats' 20^th head coach on May 12, 1997, charged with the task of replacing popular coach Rick Pitino, who had left to become the head coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics. The Wildcats were at the top of the basketball world at the time, having won a national title in 1996 and played in the national title game in 1997. The team Smith inherited sported seven players from the Arizona loss, and five from the 1996 championship team. However, since most of the players who had left after the 1996 and 1997 seasons were high NBA draft picks, his team had the lowest pre-season ranking since Kentucky came off probation in 1991.

In his first season at UK, he coached the Wildcats to their seventh NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, including a come-from-behind victory against Duke in the Elite Eight. His 1998 national championship is unique in modern times, as being the only team in over twenty years to win without a first-team All-American or future NBA lottery pick. (see 1998 NCAA Tournament).

Smith's teams, known primarily for a defense-oriented slower style of play coined "Tubbyball", received mixed reviews among Kentucky fans who have historically enjoyed a faster, higher-scoring style of play under previous coaches.

Smith led Kentucky to one national championship in 1998, a perfect 16–0 regular season conference record in 2003 (as well as being named national AP Coach of the Year), five SEC regular season championships (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005) and five SEC Tournament titles (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004), with six Sweet Sixteen finishes and four Elite Eight finishes (1998, 1999, 2003, 2005) in his nine seasons after the 1998 championship. He totaled 100 wins quicker than any other Wildcat coach except Hall of Fame member Adolph Rupp, reaching the plateau in 130 games.

Although Smith compiled an impressive resume during his UK career, he came under considerable pressure from many UK fans, who believed that his recruiting was subpar and his failure to achieve a Final Four appearance in his last nine seasons was inadequate by UK standards. Some UK fans went as far as to place "for sale" signs on his front lawn. He did come just a double overtime loss short of a Final Four appearance in 2005, losing to Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. This drought is the longest of any coach in UK history. Smith struggled to land many top recruits. In one instance he passed up McDonald's All-American Corey Brewer saying Brewer was too skinny to play in the SEC. Smith, instead, opted for the more robust Perry Stevenson. That along with his double digit losing seasons (which led to Tubby's critics nicknaming him "Ten-Loss Tubby") led to the pressure. On March 22, 2007, Smith resigned his position of UK head coach to accept the head coach position at the University of Minnesota.

Smith led the Wildcats to an overall record of 263–83 record for a winning percentage of .760. In his 10 seasons with Kentucky, he averaged over 26 wins per season.

University of Minnesota

Smith was hired as the new men's head coach of the University of Minnesota on March 22, 2007. He replaced Dan Monson who resigned from Minnesota on November 30, 2006 and Jim Molinari who had been serving as the interim coach since Monson's resignation. Coach Smith joined Minnesota after several disappointing seasons for the Gophers. Since Monson was brought in from Gonzaga on July 4, 1999 to rebuild a Minnesota program scandalized by academic fraud during Clem Haskins' regime, the Gophers made the NCAA tournament just one time, and in 2007 endured the first twenty loss season in their history.

The team went from 8–22 in 2006–07 to 20–14 in 2007–08. Smith also led his Golden Gophers to the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals after defeating 2nd seeded Indiana. Coach Smith also harvested a top 25 recruiting class, the best in years for the program. In the 2008–09 season, Tubby led Minnesota to a record of 22–11, culminating in a berth in the NCAA tournament. In the 2009-10 season, Smith's team struggled throughout the year with off court issues and close losses. However, in the Big Ten Tournament, Smith guided the team to win 3 games in 3 days (one in overtime) to advance to Minnesota's first ever appearance in the Big Ten championship game. They would lose to regular season co-champion Ohio State and player of the year candidate Evan Turner. The team's efforts were not all for naught, as their impressive run vaulted them into the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.

As of the 2009-10 season, Smith has 17 consecutive 20-win seasons.

In 2008, Smith had the highest salary of any state employee in Minnesota.

Head coaching record

U.S. Olympic Basketball

Smith was selected to help coach the 2000 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team in Sydney. He served as an assistant to then-Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich as the Americans met the high expectations set for them, capturing the gold medal.

Currently, he serves on the NCAA Committee to study basketball issues, joining Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Oregon's Ernie Kent. He serves on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board of Directors and in June 2000, spoke at a Congressional hearing on the issue of gambling in college sports.

Personal life

Smith has been very active in the Lexington, Kentucky community. The Tubby Smith Foundation, which he established to assist underprivileged children, has raised over $1.5 million in the past 5 years. Also, several community centers in the greater Lexington area bear the moniker "Tubby's Clubhouse" due to his work within the centers.

References

External links

2003 Henry Iba Award Winner

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball coaches Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Maryland Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Category:Georgia Bulldogs basketball coaches Category:High Point Panthers men's basketball players Category:Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball coaches Category:People from St. Mary's County, Maryland Category:South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball coaches Category:Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches Category:Virginia Commonwealth Rams men's basketball coaches

it:Tubby Smith

Coordinates	°′″N°′″N
name	Fran Fraschilla
sport	Basketball
birth date	August 30, 1958
birth place	Brooklyn, New York
awards	1995 MAAC Coach of the Year
championships	NCAA Division I Tournament Appearances (3)(1993, 1995, 1998)NIT Appearances (5) (1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002)MAAC Regular Season Championships (1993, 1995)MAAC Tournament Championships (1993)
overall record	176-99
coach	*
coach years	1992-19961996-19981999-2002
coach teams	ManhattanSt. John'sNew Mexico
baskhof year	}}

Fran Fraschilla (born August 30, 1958 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American basketball coach.

Career

He served as head men's basketball coach at Manhattan College, St. John's University and University of New Mexico, before joining ESPN as broadcast analyst. He currently serves as a game analyst, mostly on Big 12 action, and as a studio analyst for ESPN college basketball programming. He also covers the NBA Draft, focusing mostly on foreign players. He was an assistant coach at Providence with University of Texas-Austin coach Rick Barnes. His co-broadcaster on many Big 12 games is Ron Franklin, also an Austin resident. He also serves as ESPN's analyst for its broadcasts of FIBA tournaments.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Fran Fraschilla ESPN Bio

Category:Living people Category:1958 births Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Category:Manhattan Jaspers basketball coaches Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:New Mexico Lobos men's basketball coaches Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Providence Friars men's basketball coaches Category:St. John's Red Storm men's basketball coaches