I most certainly do. There's no denying Tubby's talent as a coach... he certainly out-coached the other teams in the '98 NCAA tournament, especially the last three games. Unfortunately, it's obvious he doesn't have the discipline or recruiting power needed to keep a team at the top. This, however, is not the reason why I became disillusioned with his leadership. In fact, the absolute LAST UK basketball game I watched was also the last I attended.

Let's go back in time to December 27, 2000. My sister and I landed free tickets to a home game against Tubby's alma mater, High Point University. The boys from the little no-name school in North Carolina were clearly excited to be there, to play against a team which had won two NCAA championships in recent years.

Poor kids.

It looked like a high school junior varsity team trying to play an NBA squad. Tubby kept his starters in for most of the first half, running up the score more than 30 points ahead of the much smaller team. My sis and I WALKED OUT with more than five minutes left to go in the first half, because we simply could not stomach watching a team as vastly superior as UK's was that year thoroughly humiliate the little guys. We were embarassed FOR High Point.

The final score: UK 102, HP 49

Maybe, with a new coach, I can once again enjoy college sports... something I haven't cared for in six years.

Ky is a basketball state. Right or wrong, if you don't deliver some appearances in the final four on a regular basis, you should probably be looking for employment elsewhere.
It will be interesting to see who they bring in to replace Tubby.

Unconfirmed sources are saying that Rick Petino is strongly considering returning as head coach to U of K. They don't call him "slick Rick" for nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by French Toast:
Unconfirmed sources are saying that Rick Petino is strongly considering returning as head coach to U of K. They don't call him "slick Rick" for nothing.

I would be very skeptical of that... interesting idea, but skeptical.

Yes I think it played a big factor in Tubby's decision to go elsewhere. I also think that some fans will realize how fortunate they were to have Tubby Smith after he is gone. He was and will be a excellent coach at Minnesota and where ever else he coache's for. Paul k. Whitfield