WKYT 27 is reporting that Tubby has left the Wildcats. WCCO in Minnesota is reporting Tubby will be taking the U of Minnesota job. UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart and UK President Lee Todd have released their official statements regarding Tubby Smith. Their statement reads, “Thanks Tubby, enjoy Minnesota.”
Following is a real-time blog of me scrambling to get more information. Plus I delve into the putrid depths of Dynasty Defenders (the “Concerned” fans who have been wanting to get rid of Tubby for a while) to see how they are celebrating. Feel free to discover the horrid truth after the jump.
Last Updated: 7:41 EDT
Edit 1: J. P. Blevins is now talking to Dave Baker on WKYT. He has had enough of the poor recruiting. (I’m paraphrasing.) I’m wondering if J. P. can’t find a stairwell to drunkenly fall down nowadays.
Speaking of drunkenness, J. P. said that Pitino has set the “presidents” for UK Basketball. I know working live TV interviews is tough, but that made me laugh.
Edit 2: Back online with Dave Baker at WKYT’s streaming site. Baker is talking with “Mike” who clearly has a up north ‘eh accent. (Sorry, I can’t see the screen graphics right now, so I can’t really tell who Baker is talking to.) Said that Tubby’s name for the U of M job has never came up until today.
Mike says that “the buzz” says a press release for U of Minn will be released today, and a press conference tomorrow.
Edit 3: Poor Kentucky Sports Radio’s blog is getting hammered. A Sea of Blue has their piece out, with more details:
Smith apparently met with Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt to tell him the news, and sources also say he has informed his team. No word yet on the status of transfers, Randolph Morris or the two recruits who were waiting to find out about Tubby’s situation.
Edit 4: ESPN’s article is sparce right now. Nice breaking story, Andy Katz! WKYT is reporting that Tubby was seen in the airport terminal with U of Minn’s AD. Dave Baker is lamenting eloquently about how Tubby is a great person, always shaking hands with everybody and asking the media and other workers of basketball games how their families are doing, etc.
Edit 5: Keith Morehouse with WSAZ TV in Huntington says that Patrick Patterson said that if Tubby were to leave UK it would have a “major impact” on Patterson’s college choice. It was an open secret that Patrick’s family was a huge fan of Tubby, and probably was the main reason UK was in the race for Patrick. Could somebody get Stephon Pettigrew on the phone and let him know UK likes him? Thanks.
Edit 6: webmaster has weaved his magic on our banner. I’m alright, nobody worry about me. You gotta give me five! Why don’t ya just let me be!
Edit 7: WLAP TV is reporting that ESPN is reporting that Tubby is getting 1.8 Million instead of the 2.5 Million that’s been floating around. Correction: ESPN.com is reporting that U of Minn will be paying him 1.8 Million, it is not the contract buyout number. WKYT is showing footage of Tubby boarding a small jet at Bluegrass Airport. I half expected Tubby to turn around and flash us a Nixon-esk victory sign.
Edit 8: It might have been my internet stream flaking out, but I could have swore Rob Bromely was starting to choke back the tears when talking about Tubby. Rob said that he spoke to Tubby on cell phone, and Tubby declined to have an interview with Rob.
Edit 9: Kentucky Sports Radio is still hammered. I think Crow and the rest of the Concerned are pounding refresh in order to get their comments in.
Edit 10: WCCO is now reporting that the AP said that a U of Minn official has confirmed Tubby is their new coach.
Edit 11: Saw on the ESPN article the following: “Gonzaga coach Mark Few and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey are expected to be candidates to replace Smith.” I seriously choked back a gag reflex. Yuck.
Edit 12: The very objective firetubbysmith.com has yet to update with victory messages. KatMan2000 has already got his victory thread and victory movie posted at Dynasty Defenders. “This is the greatest news that Kentucky Basketball has ever received!”
He also labels the situation as “flush[ing] the terd down the bowl”. You stay classy, Wildcat fans.
I’m now reviewing why I never come to the site… good gravy, this deserves a screenshot (its a thumbnail, click on it to see the whole image):
Yeah, real classy. They are also taking credit for getting Tubby out of UK. They’ll have to fight with the FireTubbySmith.com folks, who are also taking credit.
Edit 13: The more I think about this, the more interesting this becomes. There is no way in hell U of Minn was talking to Tubby before this week, or else folks would have heard about it. If Tubby was to jump, everybody had him pegged to go to Michigan, not Minnesota. Most of the media folks were all saying the same thing: more than likely, Tubby was coming back, and that his staff would see some changing. This is just completely out of left field.
We may never know the truth, but I’d like to find out exactly why Tubby chose to left.
Edit 14: As usual, Aaron compiles all the breaking “Tubby resigns” news stories into one beautiful post.
Edit 15: DeadSpin has finally picked up the story. The comments are full of crazyness. Reports out of Detroit that Tom Izzo has been contacted. The five letters C-R-E-A-N are said over and over, which would make most of the Concerned even more concerned. A crack was made about UK’s fans collective amnesia regarding Rick Pitino. Basically, this is a crazy time where rumors are going to dominate discussion.
Edit 16: Dave Baker said that Tubby’s agent has evidently been in discussion with U of Miss administrators, and evidently heard the right number (1.8 as stated above).
They played a clip of Cameron Mills from the Sweet 16 Kentucky High School basketball tournament at Rupp. Here’s what I was able to jot down that Cameron said:
[The UK Fans’] undying love for this program is going to get this program in a mess… There’s no way we get Patterson now… You wonder if [other coaches will] second guess the opportunity to come here.
Dave Baker believes that Tubby has already gotten his 1.5 Million loyalty bonus. I’ve read somewhere else that says that UK will honor the 1.5 Million loyalty bonus on April 3rd. In other words, who the hell knows? I have a report on that below.
Edit 17: More info leaking out, courtesy of the ESPN article:
Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi contacted Barnhart on Thursday morning requesting permission to speak with Smith, the statement said, and at that point Smith confirmed to Barnhart that his agent had been in discussions with Minnesota.
According to sources, Smith called [Former U of Minn coach] Monson for an education about the opening, Minnesota’s basketball facilities, the atmosphere around the program, and how the job compares to others in the Big Ten. The program was on probation for five of Monson’s seven seasons after an academic scandal under former coach Clem Haskins.
Edit 18: AJ Stewart is still coming to UK, reports the Courier-Journal. Good for him. And good for us. Depending who sticks around after this shakeout, we may need him ASAP.
I’m still waiting to hear comments on WKTY regarding Patrick Patterson, but my WKYT stream is crapping out.
Edit 19: The C-J’s Brett Dawson is reporting that Tubby’s salary at U of Minn could be 2.5 Million.
Duke’s Josh McRoberts has declared himself eligible for the NBA draft. How much you want to bet that Coach K or one of his staff was texting Patrick Patterson with news about McRoberts and then Tubby’s departure? “PAT UR NO1 CM DNCE WIT K” (Note: I have no idea what I just typed.)
Edit 20: Okay, finally starting to read our beautiful Herald-Leader. This article states that UK will pay the $1.5 Million loyalty bonus, and that there was no buyout clause in Tubby’s contract, which means Tubby won’t have to pay UK any money for ending the contract early.
Jerry Tipton’s article, like the ESPN article in early revisions, makes a point to mention Billy Donovan and the Florida’s AD comments about UK contacting Donovan. Honestly, I don’t see anything that UK can offer Donovan that Florida couldn’t match. Plus, its Florida; who wouldn’t want to coach in 70-degree weather during Basketball season?
Edit 21: Poor Kentucky Sports Radio’s website is completely submerged, although I’m sure the boys are doing a great job keeping everyone up-to-date on their radio show in Louisville. Its sad, really; they have done a fantastic job at becoming a source of Kentucky rumors and news, that when something huge happens, they get swamped. Such is life on the Internets, I suppose.
Edit 22: Official UK statements from Mitch and Dr. Todd. Seriously, this is part of Dr. Todd’s statement (emphasis mine):
I wish him every success, except if they ever play us, in this new chapter in his coaching career.
That’s just hilarious. I think we take winning seriously at the University of Kentucky. Dream, Challenge, Succeed.
Edit 23: Gregg Doyle proceeds to take a giant shiat all over Tubby. He must have an account at Dynasty Defenders. Seriously, Doyle says that Tubby is a horrible recruiter. But he’s generalizing; Tubby was one of the primary recruiters for Pitino’s UK staff, and I don’t call Prince/Finch/Hayes/Jason Parker/Hawkins/Daniels/Estill horrible or “not UK caliber” recruits. There is no defense for Tubby’s recruting after Team Turmoil, however.
Edit 24: The Herald-Leader gets some comments from Tubby:
“You always want to be wanted,” Smith told the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com after landing in Minneapolis this evening. “You know they have a need.”
Interesting.
BigBlueHistory.net has already bookended Tubby’s Tenure with the team.
And with that, I’m going off-line for a while. I have the little Fake Gimels to play with while this whole situation sorts itself out. I hope you enjoyed my massive non-up-to-date live blog of this groundbreaking event.
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
You can’t (not) fire him, he quits (for real)!
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Does he need help packing?!
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Well, you guys have finally gotten your wishes. Remmeber the story of King Midas? Probably not. Anyway he got his wish of turning everything he touched into gold. It is going to be interesting to see what the new coach of Kentucky will turn things into. But one thing is for sure, you guys will never be pleased because the ds of Kentucky basketball dominance is a thing of the past, and forcing Tubby out is only fuel to make Kentucky a has-been quicker. You all deserve it!!!!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Hey, I just wanted to say congratulation to the UK faithful for finally getting Tubby axed, and thanks very much… Every program goes through recruiting cycles and UK was getting ready to come up out of one, meeks, jasper, stevenson, harris, lucas, patterson, stewart, williams, porter, carter and Ramel and Joe providing Senior leadership that would’ve been a tough team and a very young and gifted team, UK fans need too develop a little more patience… Kentucky was getting ready to make there return at dominance and I was worried about preparing for them in the future but the fans at UK just made my job alot easier… Have fun next year guys
PG- D. Perry(He is undefeated as a starter)
SG- Bradley, Krebs
SF- Crawford, Pettigrew (he liked tubby though so maybe not)
PF- Coury
C- Carter
Possible you guys might bring in a couple JUCOS, they have a good history of panning out at UK… The Five Scholarship freshman were recruited by tubby and they loved playing for tubby, they are only freshman and won’t be hurt by transferring because they are still young… UC had a rough time, but even there lineup killed this one… Good Luck you true blue UK fans
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Tubby might actually be a good fit for Minnesota. His slow down, defense style of play will match well with the Big Ten. But Minnesota’s program is in shambles, if he thought recruiting at Kentucky was tough, wait untill he tries to persaude players to bypass Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State in favor of Minnesota.
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Good luck Tubby. You deserve better than the treatment you have received. And, UK Fans, who is going to take over. Billy is probably not going to leave. What coach wants to come in to a job where all he will do is get critized for winning and being successful? You know most UK Fans will just complain even if UK wins the NCAA Title every other year. Good jobs guys. Oh, and I am a UK Fan, and have been all my life. The loses disappoint me just as much as you, but I did not want Tubby to go.
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I shared the same >gag
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
I was actually kinda excited about having Jai Lucas and Patrick Patterson play at UK. Now it looks like we will never see that happen. Corey is right, Tubby does deserve way better treatment than he has gotten. I’ll miss you Tubby - as a kid that first grew up in the Pitino era, you will be missed.
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Hey I wish him the best of luck! But we must all agree he is a great man and did not do that all a bad of job. I just hope we get a coach who will uphold are programe and not cheat that is the last thing we need. The one thing with Tubby is we always knew he did not cheat to get players.
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Those so called freshman who loved to play for Tubby never got on the floor. When they did it was for about half a minute at a time. So don’t blow crap and say they loved Tubby that is crazy apparently you didn’t look at their faces at the end of games. I am glad that he is gone as our coach, but do wish him well as a person. As I have said before Tubby is a good person just not a good enough coach for this level.
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:10 pm
RE: Corey Says:
Yeah he was great! TUBBY is terrible recruiter.. none of his teams except for the 98 one had any chemistry. This years team showed a complete lack of discipline and they appeared lazy for the most part.
TUBBY= GREAT GUY
TUBBY= average coach.
All you naysayers just dont want Kentucky to return to its days of domination!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:34 pm
We’re Having a TUBBY IS GONE Celebratory cookout Saturday!
Let’s all thank him for leaving. He’s done us a great favor!
Sure, we may have a year of re-building with donovan or pitino, but then, we’ll be back to SEC championships and final 4’s
GO UK!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Well…I can come up with a new handle…YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!
Tubby is GONE! Nice guy, but bad coach (Remember the last few seconds of regulation in the Miss. St. game?)
AND PITIFUL recruiter….
Personally, I think Barnhardt tried to take over and make Tubby fire some underlings and hire some real help. Tubby refused and quit.
Tubby was loyal to his PITIFUL coaching/recruiting staff.
Barnhardt did the same thing with Rich Brooks and Brooks went along with it and presto-bingo, winning football season & bowl game.
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:44 pm
good riddence…. I’m sick of watching these no talent point guards spending a year to learn how to run the team (while starting?)… meanwhile the opposition can play 5 on 4 knowin’ damn well the point guard can’t (or won’t) shoot the ball.
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:54 pm
KENTUCKY Program is much larger than Patterson and Lucas, if they don’t want to come to UK……so be it. Tubby wouldn’t have played them anyway he would have been loyal to the Sub-Par Seniors. I would like to also thank the “Intelligent UK Fans” that put serious heat on Mitch and Tubby’s ass and got the much needed change. Since Tubby wasn’t obvisiouly going to change his style and just accept the ONE AND DONE in the NCAA’s the past 3 out of 4 years…..The Real True Blue Fans pulled this off and I will be forever grateful. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
finally the reign of chaos is over
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I guess you will finally shut this site down now won’t you? No need for it now.
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:41 pm
No, John, I’m sure we’ll be reborn as FireNewUKCoachNameHere.com.
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:55 pm
he could sell the website to minnesota
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
I agree I can’t wait for that one.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:15 pm
I just want to congratulate all of the idiots who unfortunately represent the Kentucky fan base. You have finally gotten what you wanted. I have been a die-hard Kentucky fan for my entire life, but I have been appalled at the way some of you treated Tubby this season. Since the early part of the season, I thought maybe it was time to find another team; not because of the team itself but because I am ashamed to be associated with the Kentucky fan base. Don’t get me wrong; I know the majority of Kentucky fans share my sentiments, but I guess the imbeciles have been a bit louder. I say, “Go Gophers”! May the Wildcats rest in peace.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:30 pm
I’m glad to see him go. I think it’s been time for a change for a couple of years but because he won that 1 championship we HAD to keep him around to see if he could right the ship. Give me his money, say all the appropiate things about his character and close the book on that chapter of UK basketball history
On the other hand we also need to be prepared for a couple of “rough” years. Patterson WILL not come now and even if Lucas does come here are going to need a big man in the center to replace the imment departure of Morris.
It’s definitely going to be addition by subtraction for this program over the next year. We need to clean house and bring in a whole new regime. With that said, Barnhardt and the athletic boosters need to open up their wallets and get someone that first and foremost recruit the big names, can handle the media pressure, and be the “face” of UK Basketball like Pitino once was.
There’s not a chance in H**L that Billy Donovan will come here. If we would have started this process 2 or 3 years ago then we might have had a shot at landing him. But, with winning the championship last year and the run he’s on this year you can pretty much kiss that idea goodbye.
Here’s another Billy we all need to think about… Billy Gillispie.
He’s the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies. He’s a young, divorced, self proclaimed workaholic who’s turned around a mediocre program into a Big 12 powerhouse. He was/is the 2005 & 2007 Big 12 Coach of the Year. Oh yeah, did I mention that he has had 4 straight top 25 recruiting classes!! If he can do that in the plains of Central Texas, imagine what he could do in the heart of college basketball? We all agree that the recruiting has been terrible over the last few years so it seems to me that someone that is this devoted to his craft and can bring in the blue chippers could be a perfect fit for the cats.
I think this guy could single handly bring back the elite powerhouse program we all expect here and give us the 8th championship that we all desire. Do yourselves a favor and read the article in today’s NY times website entitled “Coach’s ‘Unhealthy’ Obsession Has Led to Success at Texas A&M” and then tell me that this guy isn’t made for the pressure cooker that comes with being our headcoach?
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:02 pm
you folks down south are in the same spot we IU fans were in for the last five years until we finally got rid of mike davis…nice man, 20 win seasons, but 10-12 losses..playing the wrong guys etc.. trust me things feel better when the cancer is gone whether you like him or not it is better for all parties when they finally are gone…similarities are amazing, tubby wins championship with pitinos kids, davis gets to championship game with knights kids…everyone happy for a while the reality sets in…they are just average coaches who destroy the rich history of these programs…while i am happy with our new coach sampson, i know you can do better, because i know we could have too…but hey at least it only took us 5 years to get rid of our cancer, it took you people 10 years to chase your away…
come on you could have done better than that
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Don’t be surprised if Donovan does leave Florida for UK, IF his players declare for the NBA. You have to remember, UF is a football school. The fans don’t travel for basketball. Think about it. The first two rounds of the NCAA in New Orleans, only about 1000 UF fan traveled to the game, and the school was on Spring Break. UK fans travel, and there is more $$$ at UK…..and facilities.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I would like to congratulate Tubby Smith on a successful ten years in Lexington. It is my hope that in the near future, Rupp Arena will hang a banner for him in the rafters and he will receive a MUCH deserved standing ovation for all the hard work and great seasons that he put together at UK.
With that said, I expect Kentucky to land an outstanding coach. I hope that whoever it is will be able to continue to solid work that the last two Kentucky coaches have been able to accomplish. While a lot of people will always declare that Tubby Smith won with Pitino’s team in 98′, I will always feel and believe that he out-coached Coach K in the 98 regional finals by not calling a timeout during the 17 point comeback in the final minutes of the game.
Best of luck Tubby in your new job at Minnesota.
Now…let’s go get Billy Donovan and start a new dynasty at the winningest program in college basketball.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
silly silly little hillbillys
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Lets give respect
3 times a Coach of the year, NOT SEC but national………lets give RESPECT
I am happy as hell he is not coming back next year as my Wildcat coach, but let’s give him a fair well that is a class act. He has done nothing but been so, so let’s say we wish him the best and move on.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Shame on you sick, sorry, sloppy-seconds bottom feeders.
Ten years from now, you check the W-L of whoever is dumb enough to come here, and it won’t touch Tubby’s numbers.
I thought for sure I would be dancing at the intersection of Rose and Euclid next March, but it is gonna be like the 20-year drought between Rupp’s last in 58 and Joe B’s in 78 now. Nice going, whiner losers, running off one of the best coaches in the business because you don’t like the way he coaches. Who asked your sorry opinions in the first place? You coach for a living, or play D-1, or cover sports as a pro, then come back and try to second-guess the man. Meanwhile, all the experts nationwide, to a man, say the man is among the best, and you whiners are spoiled and completely out of touch with reality.
Shame, shame, shame on you. Shame on all of you. What goes around comes around, and UK basketball is going to flat-out suck for a long time now. You will be lucky to count 10 wins here in a few years. Three teams from the SEC East in the Sweet 16, three teams from Tennessee in the Sweet 16, most of Tubby’s losses to teams that went on to win or play in conference finals, and all we needed to beat Kansas last week was for Joe and Ramel to shoot their season average - an average earned by playing the toughest schedule in the nation, bar none - and Jodie to get one or two of those tough glass bounces back. That would have been the game. Boo hoo hoo.
Tubby deserves better, and the Commonwealth and UK deserve better fans!
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Yo Trublu! Tubby beat How Many Ranked Teams this year? Oh, that’s right…ZERO!!
Bye Tubby! and Bye to all you tub-lovers who are going with him. TRUBLU fans want Wins…not confusion on the court followed by excuses at the mike…
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:39 am
I have a pretty good feeling of how all you guys out in eastern Kentucky feel but we here in Western Kentucky are glad to get rid of the drag on this national prize! And to all the people that think that we are a little to demanding then I say Go Some Where Else! This is the greatest fan base in the nation with the best facilities in the Nation and to expect any thing less than an Sweet Sixteen every year is just wrong. I along with everyone else just hope that we get a Coach to bring UK back to the Glory Days! Who would not want to be part of the best of the best in the Basketball World? I for one am glad we Scrubed the Tubb, Don’t forget that North Carolina is just a few Wins away!
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:48 am
What were you people thinking ?
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:04 am
Thank Youuuu Kentucky, finally after years of bad hiring decisions
by numerous Minnesota sports teams, We finally have a coach
that has accomplished something. I have always been a Tubby
fan, and am very happy we have someone that can lead the Gophers
back to the top of the Big Ten. Sky-U-Mah Go Gophers
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
TUBBY WILL NOT BE A SUCCESS AT MINNESOTA BECAUSE TUBBY CAN’T RECRUIT
Tell him to ask what’s his face who used to coach at Western Kentucky how easy it is to recruit in Minnesota. That’s why he got fired wasn’t it?
Everybody wants to talk about Tubby’s record and how we MIGHT have gotten these recruits and what a great guy he was. Last time I checked being nice didn’t win any games. There’s no way you can justify what Tubby has been paid for what he has produced. He’s the Larry Coker of college basketball, quit whining, I bet right now Minnesota won’t make the big dance even in the subpar big ten for the next three years and I’ll take no Lucas, Patterson or Tubby for Calliperi and every recruit from Memphis.
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
tubby is a nice guy but he is not what we needed
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Tubby finally got tired of all of those good ol’ boys down in the Bluegrass State burning crosses on his lawn.
Congratulations Tubby. You can finally stop coaching in an arena named for the most openly racist coach in the history of college basketball!!
Its cold up there, but I know that you will turn things around.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
You dumb Punk…
We’re so racist, we put up with Tubby Smith for 10 YEARS!!!
We want wins…race doesn’t matter you ignorant dope.
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
we were called racist in indiana too for not liking mike davis, but true fans of good old time basketball want coaches who appreciate the history of our schools and respect the past.. tubby was not your answer, you people need someone with a thick skin who embraces the pressure of kentucky basketball.. we got one at IU now, i hope you get one too then maybe our games can take on the intensity that they had back in the knight, hall days, wouldnt that be nice…how bout stallings, he’s ready…travis ford? maybe… best choice of all…mike brey…best coach in the country at a football school, with terrible facilities to help in recruiting, yet still gets good players, the turns them into a very good team…imagine if he had your facilities and your history to offer…the man is all integrity