Congrats Tubby Smith...Hall of Fame
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Congrats, he was a great ambassador for the University and the state.
Well deserved and congratulations to the master of the ball line defense!!!!!
Congrats, Coach Smith! Although he stayed too long (and arguably got too complacent), I will always remember his late 90's and early 2000's teams fondly. More importantly, he and Donna seem to be wonderful people too.
Adolph Rupp, Eddie Sutton, Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, John Calipari, we have to be the only program with 5 Hall of Fame coaches.
Off topic a bit, but I sat by Donna a lot as a kid when I'd seat hop in Rupp. She knew me (my dad was in the 101 and worked near her) and she would flag me down if there were any empty seats behind the bench. I think the world of both of them as people.
That’s why they’re Hall of Famers. Congratulations Tubby, Donna and the Smith family.
Joe B Hall is also a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame which Tubby is being inducted to so make it six.
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I can't really agree with this stayed too long narrative. By how many years do you suggest he overstayed? Surely it can't be by more than one if that?Congrats, Coach Smith! Although he stayed too long (and arguably got too complacent), I will always remember his late 90's and early 2000's teams fondly. More importantly, he and Donna seem to be wonderful people too.
He went 87-15 85.3% while finishing ranked #1, #2, and #7 with two Elite Eights years 6 through 8 at UK. Do you think he should have stepped away because of one season going 22-13 in year nine?
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He was the right guy for that 1998 team. I do not think Rick would have predicted another championship. Tubby was the man.
There are some fans that would say yes to that question, particularly after failing to win another championship. Wondered how bad it would be today with social media?
Good point. I don’t know of any coach that would step down after 1 sub par year. He was a non call on Spark’s shot to going back to the final four and was a 1 seed the two years prior to that.
Also a 2 seed and top ten team in the ‘01 year and some would say 98 & 99 were pretty good years. lol
His recruiting had dropped off way before then. Just curious if you were a fan then or just looking at stats? It’s ok either way, there will always be fans that are ready to move on those that wanna keep what they know. I only ask because there was a large portion ready to move on.
The context was that Tubby stayed too long not if fans were ready to move on. When do you think he should have stepped down? After the Rondo recruiting class? After the near miss to the final four in ‘05? He only stayed TWO years after the ‘05 year.
Keith Bogans’ injury was devastating to a potential title run. More so than Anderson in ‘97. Bogans was really limited even though he braved it out.
I firmly believe if that 05 team makes the Final Four Tubby is the UK coach a much longer time. He seemed to hate recruiting so much he just stopped trying after the Morris fax fiasco. But a second Final Four was the only thing he lacked at that point. We will never know (thank to Chuck Hayes sitting by the scorers table as MSU got 7 offensive rebounds on one play). Recruiting would have been much easier with more national press. Patterson was coming up soon. So bitter...
Wasn't he the coach of the 2006-07 team too? You know, the team that went 22-12 and lost in the second round? That team was an 8 seed--as was the 2005-06 team you referenced. Don't let Pope's and Calipari's records (post 2020) distort what you should expect of a UK basketball team.
As I said, his run from 1998-2005 was good by UK standards. It may have been "great" if Bogans wasn't injured in 2003, had UAB not beat his best teams 2004, and UK found a way to beat MSU in overtime in 2005.
Tubby probably left at the right time. Had he stayed and Draymond Green stuck, things may have raised, but that team would have relied greatly on Green (who was an underrated recruit).
Edit: maybe Tubby would have done more with that roster, had he still landed Patrick Patterson.
Edit: maybe Tubby would have done more with that roster, had he still landed Patrick Patterson.
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You said he stayed too long. Which means the ‘06-‘07 year is not relevant to the conversation. Which also means you think he should have left during a three year stretch of 1 and 2 seeds or after one sub par year after an elite eight top 5/10 team in the country.
That's right. He's a heck of a coach, but his recruiting was also sub-par and getting worse. The forecast for his continued tenure at UK was very concerning at the time. (For the record, I also think Calipari should have taken the UCLA job and left UK while others were begging him to stay.)You said he stayed too long. Which means the ‘06-‘07 year is not relevant to the conversation. Which also means you think he should have left during a three year stretch of 1 and 2 seeds or after one sub par year after an elite eight top 5/10 team in the country.
You're welcome to look up Tubby's post-UK records at Minnesota, Texas Tech, and Memphis if you want see how he fared later in his career. Would he have had better records at UK? Probably, but "ten-loss Tubby" would have been the norm.
Kind of feels like a legacy/honorary HOF induction. A great coach, but a poor recruiter, and really didnt do a whole lot once Pitino's thumbprint on the roster started to disappear.
Ive never been high on coaches who come in and win with a prestablished roster/system.. whether its UK or any other team. Whether its Tubby or Kevin Ollie or even Steve Kerr to some extent. And I think it specifically starts to look worse if that coach cant really repeat any similar success.
Great coach, but for me I think he's a guy who should be just on the outside looking in for the sports HOF coaches.
Ive never been high on coaches who come in and win with a prestablished roster/system.. whether its UK or any other team. Whether its Tubby or Kevin Ollie or even Steve Kerr to some extent. And I think it specifically starts to look worse if that coach cant really repeat any similar success.
Great coach, but for me I think he's a guy who should be just on the outside looking in for the sports HOF coaches.