Tubby Smith
Tubby Smith
Sport(s)	Basketball
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Minnesota
Record	103–64 (.617)
Biographical details
Born	(1951-06-30) June 30, 1951 (age 60)[1] Scotland, Maryland, U.S.[1]
Playing career
1969–1973	High Point
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1979–1986 1986–1989 1989–1991 1991–1995 1995–1997 1997–2007 2007–present	VCU (asst.) South Carolina (asst.) Kentucky (asst.) Tulsa Georgia Kentucky Minnesota
Head coaching record
Overall	491–209 (.701)[2]
Accomplishments and honors
Championships NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship: (1998) Regional Championships - Final Four (1998) SEC Tournament (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004)
Awards Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1994, 1995)[2] SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005)[2] Jim Phelan Coach of the Year (2005)[3] Henry Iba Award (2003) Naismith College Coach of the Year (2003)[4]

Orlando "Tubby" Smith (born (1951-06-30)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 21 seasons as a head coach, Smith has had 18 seasons of twenty victories or more. 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 fewer. Currently, Smith's career record is 486-209, for a winning percentage of .699. With Minnesota's invitation to the 2009 NCAA tournament, Smith became the fifth coach to lead four different teams to the NCAA tournament.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] Brian, his youngest son, was a point guard at Ole Miss and is an assistant coach at Windermere Preparatory School.^[8][9]

Early years[link]

Smith was 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 10th grade teacher who didn't tolerate nicknames was the last person to call him by his proper name, Orlando.^[10]

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.^[11]

After a brief stint in the Air Force,^[12] 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.^[1]

Assistant coaching positions[link]

Virginia Commonwealth University[link]

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.^[1]

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.^[1] 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.^[13]

University of South Carolina[link]

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.^[14] During Smith's three years, the Gamecocks were 53-35.^[1] Later, roles would be reversed, with Smith bringing Felton in as an assistant coach at Kentucky.^[15]

University of Kentucky[link]

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.^[16]

Head coaching career[link]

University of Tulsa[link]

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[link]

On March 29, 1995, Smith accepted the head coaching job at the University of Georgia, becoming the school's first African-American head coach.^[17] 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.^[18] 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[link]

Tubby Smith was introduced as the Wildcats' 20th head coach on May 12, 1997, charged with the task of replacing popular coach Rick Pitino, who 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.

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.

Smith 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.^[19] That along with his double digit losing seasons (which led to Tubby's critics nicknaming him "Ten-Loss Tubby") led to the pressure.^[20] On March 22, 2007, Smith resigned his position of UK head coach to accept the head coach position at the University of Minnesota.^[21]

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.^[2]

University of Minnesota[link]

Smith was hired as the new men's head coach of the University of Minnesota on March 22, 2007.^[22] He replaced Dan Monson, who resigned from Minnesota on November 30, 2006 and Jim Molinari, who served as the interim coach following Monson's resignation. Coach Smith joined Minnesota on the heels of several disappointing seasons for the Gophers, who had made the NCAA Tournament only once since Monson's hiring in 1999.

In Smith's first season, the team improved from 8–22 in 2006–07 to 20–14 in 2007–08, and reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals after defeating second-seeded Indiana. In the 2008–09 season, Smith led Minnesota to a record of 22–11 and a bid to the NCAA tournament, where the team was eliminated in the opening round. 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 three games in three days to advance to Minnesota's first ever appearance in the Big Ten championship game. Though it lost that game, the team's run vaulted it into the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year, where it again lost in the first round.

The 2010-11 Gophers struggled to maintain the program's momentum, however, finishing 17-14 overall and 6-12 in league play (9th place). Following the season, Smith cited injuries as a major factor for the team's disappointing season.^[23] The 2011-12 Gophers were 19-14 overall and 6-12 in conference play at the conclusion of the regular season.

In 2008, Smith had the highest salary of any state employee in Minnesota.^[24]

Head coaching record[link]

U.S. Olympic Basketball[link]

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 former Oregon head coach 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[link]

When he coached at Kentucky, Smith was very active in the Lexington community. The Tubby Smith Foundation, which he established to assist underprivileged children, raised over $1.5 million in five years^{[citation needed]}. Also, several community centers in the greater Lexington area bear the moniker "Tubby's Clubhouse" due to his work within the centers.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tubby Smith

• 2003 Henry Iba Award Winner