Gophers AD hugging Shaka Smart, when both were at VCU.
With the news that Tubby Smith is out as head coach at the University of Minnesota, all eyes will turn to Gophers AD Norwod Teague. Teague and Senior Associate Athletic Director Mike Ellis will define their tenure with the hire they make. Both come to Minnesota with a heavy pedigree in basketball. Teague is a North Carolina grad and was the AD at VCU when he first hired Anthony Grant and followed that up with the well-documented hire of Shaka Smart. Ellis was a student manager under Dean Smith at UNC and was a long time basketball assistant at VCU before joining the administration under Teague at VCU.
The stakes are much higher at Minnesota than VCU, but the opportunity is greater as well. You don’t fire an NCAA Championship winning head coach like Tubby Smith and not swing for the fences with his replacement. These guys will go big. This is their chance to make their mark on the U’s athletic department and will set the tone for their tenure at the U.
We expect that they have already done a great deal of due dilligence in anticipation of this move. We don’t expect this coaching search to drag on and wouldn’t be surprised if a new hire is named within a week or two, max.
Here is a list of 10 coaches we expect Teague and Ellis could have on their short list.