FOT,
You really may know everything. Here's the story. Fairly interesting. Wasn't trying to get into a pissing match with you. Was simply trying to point out that no one really knows right now whether Virginia is interested in Tubby or whether Tubby is interested or even if Ricky Lefft would approach Tubby with this.
In this case, I trust the reporter. Monson was gone the week after Thanksgiving. There was fallout from that that had to be dealt with and then there was football that had to be dealt with. I believe that Maturi didn't do anything on basketball until he met with the search firm. In addition, according to Star Tribune archives, the school didn't finalize a contract with the search firm until Jan. 2007.
Jeff Shelman, Staff Writer. Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minn.: Mar 26, 2007
It was a little more than a week ago when Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi was on the phone with Tom Wistrcill.
Maturi and the Gophers associate athletics director were both watching Kansas and Kentucky play last Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. More specifically, they were watching Kentucky coach Tubby Smith.
Even though the Wildcats were still playing, Maturi already had given Smith's attorney, Ricky Lefft, an idea of what they were willing to offer Smith to coach the Gophers. And there had been some contract negotiations.
That said, neither Maturi or Wistrcill knew for sure that the game they were watching would be the final game of Smith's 10-year tenure at Kentucky.
At one point in the conversation, Maturi even asked, "Do you think he's really interested?"
Asked about that later, Maturi said, "I must have asked that question a half-dozen times."
Four days later, Smith hopped on a private plane at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky., and the Gophers had pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of March.
This wasn't the equivalent of a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1, but Minnesota's ability to pry one of college basketball's most recognizable coaches away from one of the sport's elite programs was definitely a huge surprise.
A look at how the Gophers pulled it apart:
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Laying the groundwork
It was Jan. 3 when Maturi arrived in Atlanta for two days of meetings with the search firm that would help Minnesota hire both football coach Tim Brewster and Smith.
The advantages of employing a search firm are pretty simple. First, the search firm can contact a coach or his representative while the season is still going on. Second, this experience brings insight and understanding and creates relationships.
In that first meeting in Atlanta - a two-day event in which one was spent on football and one on basketball - Maturi watched as more than 100 slides of basketball coaches were shown on a screen. As the process went along, coaches were placed in one of three piles: yes, no or maybe.
"I don't know how many there were; there were a lot," Maturi said. "Mike Krzyzewski was up there. We put him in the 'no' pile because we didn't think he'd leave Duke."
When Smith's slide flashed on the screen, Maturi asked a couple of questions. He knew about the Kentucky fishbowl and the lofty expectations.
"I asked [search firm leader Dan Parker], 'Dan, do you really believe he would be interested in us?' " Maturi said. "I'm not a whole lot different than a lot of you wondering why he's coming to Minnesota. Dan Parker said, 'Maybe under the right circumstances, he may.' So we kept him on the list."
As the Gophers' season progressed, Maturi remained in contact with the search firm, in person and over the telephone.
It's unclear when Parker approached Lefft, but the fact the two have known each other for years was an advantage for the Gophers. After learning about Minnesota, Lefft agreed to meet with Maturi.
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Five crucial hours
Maturi and Lefft had never met or spoken to each other when the Gophers athletic director arrived at the One Ninety One Club in Atlanta on March 9.
It was the day after the Gophers' season ended with a first- round loss to Michigan at the Big Ten tournament. And it was the same day that the Wildcats would lose to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.
As Smith was coaching at the Georgia Dome that afternoon, Lefft and Maturi were talking only about a mile away.
"You know how you kind of connect with people ... I connected with Ricky in five minutes," Maturi said. "I just said, 'He's my kind of guy.' I liked his values, I liked how he thought about his client, protected his client, and I think maybe deep down Ricky believed that maybe Minnesota had the values for Tubby, too."
Over the course of about five hours, Maturi laid out his proposal to Lefft. He talked about a potential contract, he talked about the Twin Cities as a place to live and as a place to recruit to.
There was no power-point presentation or a big binder. It was just Maturi and Lefft talking. It was a day that got the process truly moving.
Lefft did not return multiple calls from the Star Tribune.
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Negotiating a deal
In the two weeks that followed, the university and Lefft negotiated a deal by telephone and e-mail.
At one point, university general counsel Mark Rotenberg got a phone call while in Washington, D.C., and was writing down notes while in front of the State Department building. Lefft took notes at one point while writing on the hood of his car.
"There were no guarantees as we negotiated a contract because maybe Tubby would say no in the end," Maturi said. "I don't know when [Smith and Lefft] talked and how often. I've been talking to Ricky for weeks. We gave them an offer weeks ago. I don't know if that ever got to Tubby because that's not my responsibility."
Smith said that he and Lefft talked about the Minnesota job either late Sunday, after the Wildcats were eliminated, or on Monday.
"He said it was an interesting opportunity and are you interested," Smith said. "I said, 'Should I be?'
"I thought it was a great opportunity and a real challenge for us."
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A crazy week
Smith and his wife, Donna, spent last Monday night in Clemson, S.C., watching their youngest son, Brian, and his Mississippi teammates play the Tigers in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Wednesday might have been the most important day in the Gophers' courtship of the Kentucky coach.
While watching the Kentucky Sweet 16 high school tournament at Rupp Arena, Smith ran into former Gophers coach Clem Haskins. The two found a spot to talk, and Smith asked Haskins - who had a less- than-graceful exit from Dinkytown - about the Minnesota job.
Gophers fans: Credit Haskins with an assist.
"He brought me aside and had nothing but great things to say about this area, this city, the program, and he harbored no bitterness," Smith said. "He said, 'Tubby, it would be a great opportunity. You'll love it in Minnesota, and the people will embrace you.' He's pretty much the guy who said this is a no- brainer, this is a slam dunk."
Smith didn't tell Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart about leaving for Minnesota when they spoke Wednesday night. But there were beginning to be signs that something was going on.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Smith had dinner Wednesday night with Lexington builder Ray Ball, a friend.
"He gave me an idea that some things were happening, but he didn't let me know exactly what was going on," Ball told the newspaper. "I was very surprised."
Wednesday night was also the first time Maturi and Smith spoke, albeit through Lefft.
With Lefft and Tubby in the same room at Smith's house, Maturi spoke to them until close to 2 a.m. Thursday.
"I knew he was obviously interested," Maturi said. "He said, 'I will come up and look.' "
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Closing the deal
On Thursday morning, Maturi called Barnhart and officially asked permission to speak with Smith.
At some point that morning, Smith realized he couldn't follow the original plan. He wasn't going to be able to fly to Minneapolis, check out the school and make a decision. It was going to be a sight- unseen deal or no deal.
"He said, 'Let's have that press conference Friday,' " Maturi said.
At 3:10 that afternoon, a private plane carrying Maturi, his wife, Lois, and Wistrcill landed in Lexington. Within an hour, Smith and his wife had boarded the plane, and it was en route to St. Paul's Holman Field. Smith met with Kentucky players earlier that afternoon.
"Tubby and I had never met; we'd spoken on the phone but never met," Maturi said. "We tried to get acquainted. Donna was there, my wife was there, and we tried to make them feel comfortable. I thanked him for agreeing to be a Gopher."
Once on the ground in Minnesota, their first stop was the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. At some point after landing in Minnesota, Smith called Barnhart and told him he was taking the Minnesota job.
After Smith got checked in, they went directly to the Bierman Athletic Building. There, Smith met his new team and a few staff members.
On Thursday night, Smith dined with members of the athletic department and the university administration at the Capital Grille (Tubby had the salmon). When it was over, Maturi walked him around the corner to the Radisson.
"There must have been a half-dozen people who recognized him and said 'Glad you're here, Coach, glad you're here,' " Maturi said. "I don't know if he was surprised, but I don't think he expected that."
Just one more unexpected event in a process that yielded a very unexpected result.
