Could Tubby Smith be up next?

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Wednesday’s practice session for tonight’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum was like “old home” week for Minnesota coach Tubby Smith.
First was a visit with his former college basketball coach, Jerry Steele of High Point University, where Smith’s Minnesota team practiced earlier in the day. Later, it was a shorter visit with tonight’s opposing coach, Rick Barnes of Texas.
In fact, Barnes said later that the first time he ever saw Tubby Smith was when Barnes was at Lenoir-Rhyne College and Smith played at High Point.
“[Tubby] held the ball for 18 minutes as a player, and the score at halftime was 5-2,” Barnes recollected.
That was the beginning of a 30-something year relationship between men that describe one another as close friends. Barnes went on to coach at George Mason in Virginia, while Smith was at Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond and they’ve remained connected ever since.
One of them will go home after tonight’s contest, but their friendship will remain intact.
Smith went through an easy practice session Wednesday evening and ducked the questions that came his way that linked his name to the coaching vacancy at the University of Virginia.
He quickly deflected anything he considered a distraction from the task at hand, beating Texas.
“I have a job. I have a great job,” Smith said. “We’re enjoying Minnesota. We have no reason to be looking at anything else. I’m very happy where we are.
“So, [the rumors] are flattering sometimes, but it can be a distraction,” Smith added. “It’s good to be wanted, but it’s more important to be needed. I feel like I’m not only wanted in Minnesota, but needed there as well.”
Virginia fans, hopeful that Smith might end up doing for their Cavaliers what he has done for Minnesota’s Golden Gophers, could take the statement one of two ways.
One, either he’s content and will remain at Minnesota; or, two, what else could he say?
No coach is going to talk about another job on the eve of an NCAA Tournament game. It’s a distraction they don’t need. What would his players think of him if he said, ‘Yeah, I’m out the door as soon as this bad boy is over with.’
Clearly, Smith is a target in UVa’s coaching search, but don’t expect anything to happen soon, at least until the Minnesota season is completed.
What Smith has done in Minneapolis has only added to his legend.
When he took over Minnesota’s program, the Gophers were coming off a 9-22 campaign, the worst in school history. In fact, the Gophers hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament but once during former coach Dan Monson’s seven-plus seasons (he was fired early in his eighth year).
Minnesota basketball was a mess.
Enter Orlando Tubby Smith and the Gophers won 20 games and made it to the NIT, representing the biggest season turnaround in Minnesota history.
Tonight, he hopes his team can take another step as 10th-seeded Minnesota takes on No. 7 seed Texas.
Minnesota’s players immediately bought into what Smith brought with him, a coaching philosophy that won at Tulsa, Georgia and hoops powerhouse Kentucky, where he won a national championship. And, oh yes, in 17 seasons as a head coach, Smith has never had a losing campaign.
Asked how he rebuilt the Gophers’ program so quickly and Smith downplayed the whole thing.
He gave players the credit, but they were the same players that had previously gone 9-22 and now have won more than 40 games over the past two seasons under his direction.
“When you take over a program you’ve got to make sure that [players] appreciate it,” Smith said before practice Wednesday evening. “Because they chose to come there, and they’re giving their best effort. I think the returning players see that and appreciate that coach is going to give them a chance ... you know, as I told them all, I’m not coming with any preconceived notions about them. They’re all going to start from Ground One, and we’ll evaluate you from there.”
Whether Smith was just being modest or keeping his secrets in how to rebuild a program, was unclear, but he claimed it’s not that hard for him.
“That’s honestly what we’ve tried to do wherever we’ve been,” he said. “And to instill some trust and build some goals. They all want to be the best. They all came here because they love the U. So, it’s a matter of them helping me adjust. I usually tell them, I need your help.
“That’s the way I approach it. I’m here to help them, and they can help the program and themselves,” Smith continued. “Most of the time when you take over a program that’s struggling, they’re eager to be a part of it. They’ve seen the success that you’ve had, and they just want to be led the right way.
“It’s pretty easy to be honest with you,” Smith said of the rebuilding process. “It’s very fulfilling when you see them ... when you see the players and the program, and the people grow and appreciate the hard work that they’ve put in.”
Dick Jonckowski, who serves as Minnesota’s public address announcer, has witnessed the great turnaround in the way Gopher basketball is perceived and describes it simply.
“Everywhere I go, all people want to talk about is Minnesota basketball,” Jonckowski said. “Let’s face it: Tubby was a godsend.”
Earlier this year, Louisville’s Rick Pitino sensed that Smith was enjoying coaching more now than in the pressure cooker that Kentucky provided.
Smith said Pitino was right in his analysis.
“I am enjoying myself. I’m having fun,” Smith said.
He’s been there two years and is already a local legend. His picture is up in every sports bar in town and he makes a practice of going over and shaking hands with as many students in pre-game festivities as he can because he wants to spread the excitement of the basketball program.
A self-described low-maintenance coach, Tubby’s popularity has soared in Minneapolis where it declined in Lexington, Ky., after he won the national title his first season and never took the Wildcats back to the championship game again, a cardinal sin in Bluegrass Country.
“We were really struggling those last couple of years (at Kentucky),” Smith said tongue-in-cheek. “We only won 22 games and went to the NCAA tournament. It was bad.”
He finally decided to get out and Minnesota was looking for someone to revive the program.
“When I first found out I was in my room just getting out of class,” said Minnesota player Damian Johnson. “And I walked in and put it on Sportscenter, and first thing I saw was Tubby Smith to Minnesota. I was just in awe. I called everyone. I was going kind of crazy because at the time we were coming off the worst season ever here and Coach Smith came in and just wanted to implement a winning mindset.”
Teammate Jamal Abu-Shamala shared that excitement.
“When we first found out, we were all kind of shocked,” Abu-Shamala said. “We were like, ‘one of the legends in the coaching business ... he’s won a National Championship that everyone tries to reach. The first thing he changed was the mindset and attitude of the team. Really, he wanted us to have a championship attitude and just have faith and believe in each other that we can achieve big goals.”
As Jonckowski said, “People have been waiting for something like this for a long time. He’s got such a good reputation. They know he knows what he’s doing.”
Rick Barnes seconded that notion.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Tubby over the years and I’m not sure there’s a more respected and more humbled person in basketball than Tubby Smith,” Barnes said.
That’s a strong, but familiar endorsement.