University of Minnesota
Tubby Smith was the coach of which team from 2007 to 2013?
Tubby Smith Orlando Henry Tubby Smith ( born June 30 , 1951 ) is an American college basketball coach . He is the mens basketball coach at High Point University , his alma mater . Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa , the University of Georgia , the University of Kentucky , the University of Minnesota , Texas Tech University , and the University of Memphis . With Kentucky , he coached the Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA championship . In his 28 years as a head coach , Smith has achieved 26 winning 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 fewer . With Texas Techs invitation to the 2016 NCAA Tournament , Smith became only the second coach in history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament . Smiths three sons are following in their fathers coaching footsteps . G.G . Smith , who played for his father at the University of Georgia , was formerly the head coach at Loyola ( Md ) , and is currently the associate head coach at High Point . His middle son Saul Smith played for his father at the University of Kentucky and was an assistant coach for his father at Memphis . Brian , his youngest son , was a point guard at Ole Miss and is the head coach at Saint John Paul II Academy in Boca Raton , Florida . Early years . Smith was born in Scotland , Maryland , in Saint Marys County , 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 didnt 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 After having a scholarship offer from the University of Maryland rescinded , Smith enrolled at High Point College ( now High Point University ) , graduating in 1973 .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 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 . In 1973 , Smith began his coaching career with four years 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 . VCU . 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 Smiths 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 . South Carolina . Smith left Virginia Commonwealth in 1986 to join George Feltons 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 Smiths three years , the Gamecocks were 53–35 . Later , roles would be reversed , with Smith bringing Felton in as an assistant coach at Kentucky . 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 wasnt the only soon-to-be high-profile name on Pitinos coaching staff at Kentucky . Future head coaches Ralph Willard , Herb Sendek , Billy Donovan , and Bernadette Locke-Mattox were all Smiths colleagues . Head coaching career . Tulsa . From 1991 to 1995 , Smith led the Tulsa Golden Hurricane mens basketball 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 Mens Division I Basketball Tournament in 1994 and 1995 . Smiths 1994 Tulsa team upset UCLA in the tourneys first round before knocking off Oklahoma State . In 95 , the Golden Hurricane defeated Big Ten team Illinois to open March Madness . Georgia . On March 29 , 1995 , Smith accepted the head coaching job at the University of Georgia , becoming the schools 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 . Kentucky . 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 NBAs 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 had 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 Mens 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 ) . Smiths 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 was also known for using the ball line defense . Smith led Kentucky to one national championship in 1998 , a perfect 16–0 regular season conference record in 2003 , five SEC regular season championships ( 1998 , 2000 , 2001 , 2003 , 2005 ) and five SEC Tournament titles ( 1998 , 1999 , 2001 , 2003 , 2004 ) . Smith led the Wildcats to six Sweet Sixteen appearances ( 1998 , 1999 , 2001 , 2002 , 2003 , 2005 ) and four Elite Eight appearances ( 1998 , 1999 , 2003 , 2005 ) in his ten seasons . He totaled 100 wins quicker than any other Wildcat coach except Hall of Fame member Adolph Rupp and current Wildcat coach John Calipari , reaching the plateau in 130 games . Smith was named National Coach of the Year in 2003 and SEC Coach of the Year in 1998 , 2003 , and 2005 . Smith came under considerable pressure from many UK fans late in his tenure . Many thought that his recruiting was subpar , as he regularly struggled to land top recruits . Kentucky fans also became impatient that his teams never reached another Final Four during his tenure . Some UK fans went as far as to place for sale signs on his front lawn . Smith did come just a double overtime loss short of a Final Four appearance in 2005 , losing to Tom Izzos Michigan State Spartans . Smiths Kentucky teams also lost in the regional finals of both the 1999 and 2003 NCAA tournaments . Smith also had five double digit loss seasons ( which led to his critics nicknaming him Ten-Loss Tubby ) , which caused the pressure to ramp up on him . On March 22 , 2007 , Smith resigned his position of UK head coach to accept the head coach position at the University of Minnesota . In his ten seasons at Kentucky , Smith led UK to an overall record of 263–83 , for a winning percentage of .760 . In contrast , the coach Kentucky selected to succeed him , Billy Gillispie , went 40–27 for a winning percentage of .597 , and missed the NCAAs in his second year . In 2013 , Smith was elected to the UK Athletic Hall of Fame . Minnesota . Smith was hired as the new mens 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 served as the interim coach following Monsons resignation . Coach Smith joined Minnesota on the heels of several disappointing seasons for the Gophers , who had made the NCAA Tournament only once since Monsons hiring in 1999 . In Smiths 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 , Smiths 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 Minnesotas first ever appearance in the Big Ten championship game . Though it lost that game , the teams run vaulted it into the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year , where it again lost in the first round . In 2008 , Smith had the highest salary of any state employee in Minnesota . The 2010–11 Gophers struggled to maintain the programs 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 teams disappointing season . The 2011–12 Gophers were 19–14 overall and 6–12 in conference play at the conclusion of the regular season . After earning a bid to play in the NIT , the Gophers won four consecutive games before losing in the NIT championship game to Stanford . They concluded the season with a 23–15 overall record , which tied for the most wins in a season in school history . In July 2012 , Smith signed a three-year extension with Minnesota . However , on March 25 , 2013 , Smith was relieved of his head coaching duties following a Round of 32 loss in the NCAA Tournament to Florida . He was replaced by Richard Pitino , whose father Rick , coincidentally , Smith had replaced at Kentucky . Texas Tech . On April 1 , 2013 , Texas Tech announced that Smith would be hired , and he was introduced as the new mens basketball coach on April 2 , 2013 . He replaced Billy Gillispie ( who ironically replaced Smith after he left Kentucky in 2007 ) , who resigned from Texas Tech on September 20 , 2012 and Chris Walker , who served as the interim coach following Gillispies resignation . Texas Tech had failed to make the NCAA tournament in the 7 years prior to Smiths hire at the school . Tubby Smiths first season ( 2013–2014 ) proved to be a challenge . The Red Raiders led by Jaye Crockett started the season 8–5 in non conference only to fade during Big 12 play finishing with a 6–12 conference mark . Although the team faded down the stretch , it showed that it could compete with the upper teams in the Big 12 as the Red Raiders won two games against ranked competition and lost many close games . The team finished with a 14–18 record overall and 9th in the 10 team Big 12 . This season marked Smiths first losing season as a head coach in his career and proved that the rebuilding job in Lubbock was massive . Smiths second season started with Smith attempting to improve the Red Raiders talent level . Smith added Keenan Evans , Justin Gray , Norense Odiase , and Zach Smith in the offseason in the hopes of improving a depleted Red Raider team . The season ended up being a massive disappointment as the Red Raiders got worse than the 2013–2014 season and finished 13–19 with only 3 victories coming in the Big 12 . Although , the season was labeled a massive disappointment , Smith led the Red Raiders to their first victory over a top 25 team since the 2009 season with a January 15 , 2014 upset over the #9 Iowa State Cyclones . Although the season started with plenty of promise , the Red Raiders finished a mediocre season with a first round Big 12 tournament exit against the Texas Longhorns . The 2015–16 season proved to be Smiths best , his 3rd season at Texas Tech , the Red Raiders started the season with a 12–7 record and a 2–6 record in the Big 12 . The Red Raiders eventually led a turnaround and won 3 straight games against ranked opponents for the first time in school history . The season featured young stars Evans , Gray , Odiase , and Smith as well as senior leaders Devaugntah Williams and Toddrick Gotcher . The team proved to be well balanced and efficient on both sides of the ball . The Red Raiders made good use of Smiths ball line defense . The Red Raiders would close out the 2015–16 regular season by winning 6 of their last 8 games and finishing with an overall 19–12 record with a 9–9 record in Big 12 play . The turnaround was the biggest in the Big 12 with the Red Raiders completing a six-game improvement from the year prior in arguably the toughest conference in the country . On March 13 , 2016 , the Red Raiders were selected to participate in the 2016 NCAA Tournament . Smith was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year for orchestrating the turnaround . On March 8 , Smith was named as the Sporting News Coach of the Year for his rebuilding effort . Memphis . On April 14 , 2016 , Smith accepted the head coaching position at Memphis , replacing former Memphis coach Josh Pastner who took the job at Georgia Tech . In April 2017 six of the top eight scorers transferred out of the program . Smith compiled a 22–13 record in his second year at Memphis , improving upon a 19–13 record in his first year . He was fired from the position on March 14 , 2018 . High Point . On March 25 , 2018 , it was first reported by Jeff Goodman of ESPN that Smith was on the verge of finalizing a contract to become the next head coach at his alma mater , High Point University . He was officially named head coach on March 27 , 2018 . Smith is an active donor at HPU , contributing to the funding of a new arena that is being built expected to be ready for the 2020 season . National team career . Smith was selected to help coach the United States mens national basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney . He served as an assistant to then-Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich as the Americans captured the gold medal . Other leadership . Smith was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa - The National Leadership Honor Society in 2001 at the University of Kentucky . Smith serves on the NCAA Committee to study basketball issues , joining Dukes 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 . Tubby Smith and his wife , Donna , gave $1 million to High Point University , Tubby Smiths alma mater , for the building of a new basketball arena and conference center . High Point University announced in February 2017 that it will name the basketball court in their honor . Personal life . 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 . Smith and his wife , Donna , are still active with The TSF in Lexington even though they no longer live in the area . Also , several community centers in the greater Lexington area bear the moniker Tubbys Klubhouse due to his work within the centers .