Tubby Smith

Tubby Smith
Biographical details
Born (1951-06-30) June 30, 1951 (age 73)
Scotland, Maryland, U.S.
Playing career
1969–1973High Point
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1973–1977Great Mills HS
1977–1979Hoke County HS
1979–1986VCU (assistant)
1986–1989South Carolina (assistant)
1989–1991Kentucky (assistant)
1991–1995Tulsa
1995–1997Georgia
1997–2007Kentucky
2007–2013Minnesota
2013–2016Texas Tech
2016–2018Memphis
2018–2022High Point
Head coaching record
Overall642–369 (college)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA Division I tournament (1998)
NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four (1998)
5 SEC regular season (1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005)
5 SEC tournament (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004)
2 MVC regular season (1994, 1995)
Awards
AP College Coach of the Year (2003)
Naismith College Coach of the Year (2003)[1]
NABC Coach of the Year (2003)
Henry Iba Award (2003)
Jim Phelan Award (2005)[2]
2× MVC Coach of the Year (1994, 1995)[3]
3× SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005)[3]
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2016)[4]
John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2016)[5]
Sporting News National Coach of the Year (2016)[6]
Medal record
Men's basketball
Assistant coach for  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team

Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951)[7] is an American college basketball coach who last coached the men's basketball team at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the University of Georgia, the University of Kentucky, the University of Minnesota, Texas Tech University, and the University of Memphis. With Kentucky, he coached the Wildcats to the 1998 NCAA championship.

In his 31 years as a head coach, Smith achieved 26 winning seasons. In 2005, he joined Roy Williams, Nolan Richardson, Denny Crum, and Jim Boeheim as the only head coaches to win 365 games in 15 seasons or fewer. With Texas Tech's invitation to the 2016 NCAA tournament, Smith became only the second of three coaches in history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament.[8]

Smith has three sons. G.G. Smith, who played for his father at the University of Georgia, was formerly the head coach at Loyola (Md),[9] and also formerly head coach at High Point.[10] His middle son Saul Smith played for his father at the University of Kentucky and was an assistant coach for his father at Memphis. Brian, his youngest son, was a point guard at Ole Miss and is the head coach at Saint John Paul II Academy in Boca Raton, Florida.[11][12]

  1. ^ "Men's College Coach of the Year". NaismithAwards.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
  2. ^ "Kentucky's Smith Wins Phelan Award". CollegeInsider.com. April 4, 2005. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Tubby Smith bio". University of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics. June 13, 2005. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference B12CoY was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Tubby Smith of Texas Tech Named 2016 John R. Wooden Award® Legends of Coaching Recipient". Wooden Award. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  6. ^ DeCourcy, Mike (March 8, 2016). "Tubby Smith's knack for rebuilding earns him Sporting News Coach of the Year". Sporting News. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  7. ^ "Coach Bio: Tubby Smith :: Men's Basketball". University of Kentucky. Archived from the original on March 1, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
  8. ^ "10 things to know about Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith, including how he got that name, and his humiliating wipeout". SportsDay. March 13, 2016.
  9. ^ "G.G. Smith". Loyola College. Retrieved December 2, 2007.
  10. ^ Borzello, Jeff (March 3, 2023). "Sources: High Point Panthers fire head coach G.G. Smith". ESPN. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  11. ^ "Brian Smith". University of Mississippi. Retrieved January 12, 2007. [dead link]
  12. ^ Hartman, Sid (March 7, 2009). "Gophers throw away sure tournament bid". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 30, 2009.