Tubby Smith to Minnesota

[mardigan]

Sources: Smith to leave Kentucky for MinnesotaBy Andy Katz
ESPN.com


Tubby Smith will leave Kentucky to take over the head coaching job at Minnesota, multiple sources told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.

Smith had four year remaining on his Kentucky contract.

Smith met with Kentucky players and Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart. Smith 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.

[Kermit]

i guess we can kick-start those rick barnes rumors.

[Vizzini]

great get by the gophers! Smith will be able to build a program out of the limelight and not have to worry about his job every other year.

[MajorMike]

Actually the Billy to UK rumors are already off the hook.

[ShoogarBear]

Who will be the first to throw his game so he can get to Lexington ASAP:

Donovan or Gillispie?

[tlongII]

I think Gillispie will go to Lexington now.

[MajorMike]

No way in hell Billy D leaves UF for UK.

[ShoogarBear]

Kentucky is one of the top 4-5 highest profile jobs in college hoops.

Florida will always be a football school first.

[MajorMike]

Yet Billy D wins championships, gets to title games, gets the recruits, and has little pressure. If he were at a yearly Sweet 16 team, a flash in the pan, at a highly regarded D-1 school, I would say it was diff. He has a NC, another title game appearance, 3 SEC Tourneys in a row, 2 other reg season titles, and 2 other SEC title game appearances. UK is the chief rival of UF in basketball. Will never happen.

[RonMexico]

Actually, CaptRumor - the word on the street is that UK's first choice is Calipari right now... trying to regain the Italian flavor left by Pitino.

[ShoogarBear]

Yet Billy D wins championships, gets to title games, gets the recruits, and has little pressure. If he were at a yearly Sweet 16 team, a flash in the pan, at a highly regarded D-1 school, I would say it was diff. He has a NC, another title game appearance, 3 SEC Tourneys in a row, 2 other reg season titles, and 2 other SEC title game appearances. UK is the chief rival of UF in basketball. Will never happen.Riiiiight. :lol 'Cause coaches never jump from one SEC school to another.

Um, where was Donovan an assistant coach in 1993? Kentucky. Wow, and yet still Florida still somehow managed to look past that when they hired him.

The SEC pecking order is Kentucky head coaching job >> Florida head coaching job and always will be. That doesn't mean that Donovan will leave. But Kentucky will definitely try to get permission to talk to him, and he will listen if they do. To say "will never happen" is ignorant.


Actually, CaptRumor - the word on the street is that UK's first choice is Calipari right now... trying to regain the Italian flavor left by Pitino.
Calipari? I would love to see Kentucky hire Calipari. The guy can only recruit; he can't coach for shit.

[MajorMike]

You must not be reading much.

[RonMexico]

Calipari? I would love to see Kentucky hire Calipari. The guy can only recruit; he can't coach for shit.

I agree - I would love it too.... biggest knock on Smith since he's been hired - his inability to recruit and retain top talent... he's had incredible amounts of transfers and the Randolph Morris situation... Calipari, however can recruit the hell out of some kids.

[ShoogarBear]

:lol You must be a Kentucky fan.

I was saying I would love it because Kentucky wouldn't win even though they had talent.

[ducks]

Kentucky's Smith to become Minnesota basketball coach

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI, AP Sports Writer
March 22, 2007

AP - Mar 22, 4:36 pm EDT
More Photos



MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Kentucky's Tubby Smith will be the University of Minnesota's new basketball coach, a Minnesota school official said Thursday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Minnesota had not yet announced the hire. A news conference was scheduled for noon CDT on Friday.

Smith met with Kentucky players earlier Thursday, said basketball spokesman Scott Stricklin. He said he didn't know what Smith told the players and had no further comment.

The news was first reported by ESPN.com and SI.com.

The Wildcats went 22-12 this season and made it to the NCAA tournament, but lost to top-seeded Kansas in the second round, turning up the heat on their coach.

ADVERTISEMENT


Smith led Kentucky to the national championship in his first season in 1998, but the Wildcats haven't been back to the Final Four since, their longest drought since the NCAA tournament began. The team has lost 10 or more games in a season five times under his watch, prompting the demanding fan base to nickname him "10-loss Tubby."

"In our league, we have passionate fans that want to see success," said SEC commissioner Mike Slive about the expectations at Kentucky.

The criticism ramped up this season when the proud program struggled against top competition, losing handily to Memphis, North Carolina and Florida. Smith entered the tournament on shaky ground, and his status wasn't helped when the Wildcats failed to make it out of the first weekend for the third time in four seasons.

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart gave Smith a vote of confidence before the tournament began. After the loss to the Jayhawks, Smith said he anticipated returning to Lexington for an 11th season.

"Tubby's a great credit to basketball and a great credit to the game," Slive said.

Smith's trading one tenuous situation for another.

Minnesota was 9-22 this season, the most losses in the 111-year history of the program and averaged just 60.6 points a game, its lowest output in 56 years.

Former coach Dan Monson was forced to resign seven games into this season with a 118-106 record in eight seasons, and Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi came under fire for the timing of the move.

Jim Molinari served as the interim coach for most of this season, one of the low points in the program's history.


AP - Mar 22, 4:36 pm EDT
More Photos


The Gophers have plummeted from a program that once was annually competitive in the Big Ten to a perennial doormat under Monson, who was handcuffed by severe NCAA sanctions after a massive academic fraud scandal rocked the school.

Clem Haskins presided over that period, which resulted in the Gophers' 1997 Final Four appearance being wiped from the books, and Monson struggled mightily with recruiting and was never able to rehabilitate the team.

Monson failed to keep a handful of in-state high school stars from choosing other schools and couldn't field a consistent team. Many of his starting lineups were cobbled together with transfers, and the Gophers never found the cohesiveness needed to contend in the Big Ten.

Maturi knew he needed to hire a big name to revive the dormant program and was considering Detroit Pistons coach and Gopher alum Flip Saunders and former Utah coach Rick Majerus among other candidates.

Smith's name never surfaced until Thursday afternoon.

In Smith, Maturi has found a coach with a proven track record of success, including 14 straight 20-win seasons spanning his tenures at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky.

In 10 years at Kentucky, Smith won five SEC titles, five SEC tournament titles and had a 263-83 record. He is 387-145 in his coaching career.

AP Sports Writers Will Graves in Louisville and Nancy Armour in St. Louis contributed to this report.



Talk Tournament basketball with fellow fans in the HP Courtside 2007 Group. Or find the group for your favorite school at the College Basketball Fan Zone.

[MajorMike]

At least they can start talking to BG today.

[RonMexico]

Calipari already talked to them during halftime...