I wish Tubby Smith nothing but the best, truly, but I feel like UK fans get some validation at this point. For ALL the crap analysts and announcers gave UK for "running off such a remarkable and exceptional guy" (despite the fact that tubby could have stayed and chose to leave), I feel like we are vindicated, by MN firing him. UK gave "10 loss Tubby" 10 seasons to get his act together - before forcing him to replace assistants who failed to prove themselves able to recruit top talent - which prompted Tubby to quit. Minnesota only gave the guy 6 seasons, and in both cases, Tubby went down the drain after a 2nd round loss. If MN can dump him after 6 seasons, I feel like UK should get bonus points for keeping him for 10, especially when they were still willing to give him a 2nd chance at that point, rather than get slandered for expecting more than 8 seeds. 

Good point gillispie. Also the fact Tubby never embraced or recruited the one and dones was his downfall too.

Anyone want to take bets that Minnesota will be less successful under Tubby's replacement than they were under Tubby?

Sure, I'll take that bet.

One tournament win in six years?  Never better than .500 in conference?  That's a gimme.

Bobby Jackson isn't walking through that door.

They are gonna be brutal next season. But, there are 3 mega recruits in MN this season who are high school Jrs. If the next coach can land even one of them it changes the tide. Even two would be huge. And one of the kids, Reid Travis plays at DeLasalle. The assistant coach there is Quincey Lewis. SO the rumor is Quincey has put in a good word for the U of M. We will have to wait and see.

what evil_twin said...

While at UK, I think Tubby hated to recruit.  With  a small in-state high school population, UK must always recruit nationally. Tubby found recruiting to be distasteful and he hired assistants with the personalities of wallboard. 
Consequently, instead of blue-chippers, Tubby attracted "project players". He was good at developing those players but you rarely win championships with that kind of talent.
 Tubby's a terrific man and was a great ambassador for UK. It's a shame it didn't work out for both parties. 

Posted by alblack56 on 3/27/2013 4:12:00 AM (view original):
While at UK, I think Tubby hated to recruit.  With  a small in-state high school population, UK must always recruit nationally. Tubby found recruiting to be distasteful and he hired assistants with the personalities of wallboard. 
Consequently, instead of blue-chippers, Tubby attracted "project players". He was good at developing those players but you rarely win championships with that kind of talent.
 Tubby's a terrific man and was a great ambassador for UK. It's a shame it didn't work out for both parties. 

i agree, he was a great ambassador. if he had been more successful, he would have been perfect. doesn't have that over the top energy of pitino/cal that cat fans seem to love, and i guess his slower style of ball wasnt exactly the most fun to watch - but mostly, because they just didnt play it that well - passing the ball around the perimeter without movement (which seemed very common those last few years) just doesnt cut it. their good teams were quite fun to watch, even without the energy of pitinos press or cals run and gun style, so i dont think ANY of that would be an issue, if he won more.

but still, tubby was a rare breed, kept more integrity in his left pocket than our last 3 coaches (other than tubby) have had put together. would have loved for him to have worked out, and i still hope he can land on his feet. not sure if he wants to keep going, i totally agree about the recruiting thing, if he could get some good assistants, he could really do some damage. i think when it was really over for tubby at UK, was when he brought in that monster class, 4 5 stars (rondo was the last and best known), but nothing really came of it.

Tubby took over a struggling program with sanctions and took them to the tournament multiple times and got them a win in the toughest conference in America. Minnesota will probably spend the next 10 years struggling (except for the next two, I think they'll be decent, because they still have the Hollins'). Tubby shouldn't have been fired!

Posted by m4284850 on 3/27/2013 12:38:00 PM (view original):
Tubby took over a struggling program with sanctions and took them to the tournament multiple times and got them a win in the toughest conference in America. Minnesota will probably spend the next 10 years struggling (except for the next two, I think they'll be decent, because they still have the Hollins'). Tubby shouldn't have been fired!

i thought he did well enough for the gophers, but not well enough for 1.7M/yr

Posted by gillispie1 on 3/27/2013 12:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by m4284850 on 3/27/2013 12:38:00 PM (view original):
Tubby took over a struggling program with sanctions and took them to the tournament multiple times and got them a win in the toughest conference in America. Minnesota will probably spend the next 10 years struggling (except for the next two, I think they'll be decent, because they still have the Hollins'). Tubby shouldn't have been fired!

i thought he did well enough for the gophers, but not well enough for 1.7M/yr

True, but by firing him, they still needed to pay a 2.5 Mill. buyout and I think I had like two years left on his contract, If I were the Minnesota AD, I think I'd just give him an extension with a pay cut (maybe give an ultimatum: "We can either cut your pay or your gone"), b/c I think he's a pretty elite coach who runs a clean program.

The guy did not post a single winning (in conference) season in six years, and multiple times this past season, seemed less in the game than your dog did.  Take the name away, go only by the record, and any AD would pull the plug.

Minnesota is a crappy program with poor facilities that had recently been racked by scandal.

He turned that around, made the tourney three times in six years, and ran a very clean program. I think it's better than the vast majority of coaches would've done under those circumstances, and I think it's highly unlikely that a program like this will be able to attract someone better than Tubby.

He is leaving some talent on the roster, and there is a great junior class in state. So it's possible that the right coach could do better going forward ... I just tend to doubt it.