Gopher Basketball
ESPN.com reports that Smith has already informed the Kentucky athletic department and players that he won’t be fulfilling the remaining four years of his contract there. It also reports that he will fly to Minnesota this afternoon and that his new contract will be worth approximately $1.8 million per year. Other sources have the figure as high as $2.5 million per year.
With this hiring, Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi has instantly given the Gophers a head coach with as big of a name and as strong of a winning track record as any in the Big 10. In his 10 seasons at Kentucky, Smith has won one national championship, 5 SEC championships, 5 SEC Tournament championships, and has never missed the NCAA Tournament. Coming into this season, he had a .772 winning percentage at Kentucky and a .733 winning percentage overall as a head coach. Smith began his college head coaching career at Tulsa, where he rebuilt the program and took them to two Sweet Sixteens. He then coached Georgia for two seasons, taking them to the NCAA Tournament in both, before replacing Rick Pitino at Kentucky.
Smith is widely regarded as an outstanding coach and teacher. Some Kentucky fans have questioned his ability as a recruiter (at least as compared to the likes of a Rick Pitino), however his national name and reputation should give instant creditability to Minnesota’s recruiting efforts with both local and national recruits. And with the right staff of assistants, there’s no reason not to believe that Minnesota recruiting will reach a higher level than it’s been in a decade or more.
Stay tuned to GopherHole.com for more news on the seemingly imminent announcement of Tubby Smith as the new Gopher Basketball head coach.
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