Sports Huddle Summary: Tubby Smith - 1/29/12

The following are Tubby Smith's responses to questions by Sid Hartman and Mike Max on today's Sports Huddle:

1) Last night's big win: "Kids really worked hard. Deserving of getting a break against a quality team, Illinois."

2) On the recent run by the Gophers: "We've had a good run. We're a young team."

3) Poise at the end of regulation play: "We've folded at times . . . experience and understanding played a big part with the poise, including the coaching staff."

4) Sid asked about the team's youth: One senior, Ralph Sampson . . . "It's a process, a journey and a long way to go with a big game with Iowa."

5) Joe Coleman received 2 or three stitches to his lip last night. "He's a warrior . . . he sets the tone . . . an aggressive player." The players play off his aggressive play.

6) Sid asked about scholarships: "We're out of all scholarships (Tubby had laughter in his voice) but you never know." (He referenced transfer(s), but he wasn't being explicit. You never know what can occur in the off'season.)

7) Trevor Mbakwe: "We'll see if we can get another year. He's graduated and is working on another degree." (He'd be eligible to play, if he's granted another year.)

8) Practice facility: "Need to get players an opportunity to get in practice time at anytime." (He was referencing the uncertainty of Williams Arena being available for a variety reasons. Especially important to have an opportunity to practice in the off-season with regularity.) A practice facility as a recruiting tool: "When everyone else has one we're at a disadvantage."


Go Gophers!!

I really appreciate these write-up, thank you for doing them, and posting, DL! I don't recall when Coleman got his lip banged. Did Sid or Dave press Tubby at all about the transfers. The fact that he laughed about it, probably means he's holding back.

GopherLady said:

The fact that he laughed about it, probably means he's holding back.

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I'm going to cross my fingers here and hope that Tubby isn't necessarily forecasting anything significant. His laughing tone might also have just been a nod to the crazy amount of roster turnover over the past few seasons.

My thinking on possible transfers:
If Rodney stays and Trevor gets another year we'll need to clear one scholarship to get both of the recruits in. I could see Ingram transferring if Tubby doesn't think he'll see any time next year. Also maybe Mav or Chip because of Ellenson being another guard coming in we'd have a lot of guards.
Absolutely no inside information and I'm not saying I want these guys to transfer, just the players I can think of and the reasoning behind transfer.

GopherLady said:

I really appreciate these write-up, thank you for doing them, and posting, DL! I don't recall when Coleman got his lip banged. Did Sid or Dave press Tubby at all about the transfers. The fact that he laughed about it, probably means he's holding back.

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Neither Sid nor Mike Max pressed Tubby after he said . . . "but you never know." Speculation on my part, I think he might have been referring to the roster changes that occurred in the last two years.

Because Tubby is on for only a few short minutes, there doesn't seem to be a lot of elaboration or follow ups to Q&As (quite different from Jerry Kill's segments). Anyway, that's my take. I was writing my Jerry Kill summary when Tubby was interviewed, so I quickly dropped my posting and started taking Tubby notes, which was a momentary adjustment and I may have missed or good quote or two in the first question.

Go Gophers!!

DL65, thank you.