Prior to his arrival at Kentucky, Smith spent two seasons as head mentor at the University of Georgia (1995-97) where he tallied a 45-19 overall record for a 70.3 winning percentage and recorded the first back-to-back seasons of 20 wins or more in school history. His first year in Kentucky when they won it, was with talent that he did not recruit. Tubby, even though I don't like him all that much, has proven he is a good coach, however his teams seem to always fall short. The last one occurred basically around the time Calipari was at UMass. Its been a few years, since the last high tide of recruiting scandals. Or if Tubbie proves to be just another coach who wasn't quite charismatic enough to keep the lockers stocked with stars. It will be interesting to see if a huge recruiting scandal breaks somewhere soon. Maybe Tubbie is just not the recruiter Calipari andPitino and many others are.īut when I read Tubbie's words, and when I have looked at his increasingly stoic face on the side lines and in interviews this season, I see the face of a man who thinks he's playing by the rules and who suspects alot of others aren't. He left UMass under a cloud that had to do at least in part with the way the talent got there.Īnd Slick Rick was, afterall, rather remarkable in his ability to load UK with talent during his short, highly successful reign before Tubbie, which Tubbie subsequently won a ring with. Tubbie's had some serious competition in the recruiting wars in that region.Īnd of course Calipari is no angel. Calipari and Pitino have their river boats loaded to the top decks with talent. Well, Calipari and Pitino come to mind first.
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These factors seemingly should be enough to keep Kentucky's lockers full of stars. Tubbie is an African American, who ought to be able to communicate and recruit well with African Americans, who do, afterall, make up a large percentage of recruiting classes. The question to ask about Smith is: why hasn't he been able to bring in more talent at UK? Tubbie raised the issue himself. What an incredibly tough schedule they played. It will be a shame, if they fire Tubbie Smith. Though Kentucky held a rebounding edge and had big games from Randolph Morris (22 points, eight boards) and Bobby Perry (21 points), the hot shooting of KU's guards made it an agonizing second half for the Wildcats. The Wildcats certainly had inferior talent to the Jayhawks, which was widely known and only proven Sunday. "We've got to bring in more talent, and that's something we're always looking to do." We're always looking to improve," Smith said. Considering the wide disparity, it's almost fitting that Kentucky ended its run when it did Sunday in the United Center. They were 21-3 against teams no longer in the championship hunt.
The Wildcats were 1-9 against the Sweet 16 teams, splitting a pair with Tennessee and losing to Florida twice, Vanderbilt twice, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis. "There's not much of a dip," Smith said of KU's depth, "and there's not many teams we've played we can say that about." Kansas, Smith said, has as good a shot at winning four more as anyone. Seven of the teams in the Sweet 16 have run into Kentucky, one reason the Wildcats had a disappointing 22-12 record this year. With Sunday's game, the Wildcats have played three No. Chicago If Tubby Smith sounds like an expert : well, it's because he really is.Īfter Kentucky's basketball team was throttled, 88-76, by Kansas University on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats coach matter-of-factly called KU a national-title contender.
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