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Tubby is the right pick for Virginia
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: March 21, 2009
GREENSBORO, N.C.
Tubby Smith, men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota, is a wanted man.
Not by the law, mind you, but by two major universities 900 miles apart. Minnesota has him and wants to keep him. The University of Virginia wants him to revive its downtrodden basketball program.
While issuing the standard “I’m happy, I have a good job, I’m not looking at anything else” statement when the matter was bridged during Wednesday’s NCAA tournament interview session, Tubby said that while it’s important to be wanted, it’s more important to be needed.
No one needs him more than Virginia, where basketball, by outgoing coach Dave Leitao’s assessment, has been “irrelevant” on the college hoops landscape for the past 10 years.
From everything I can gather in talking to my network of sources, Tubby Smith is THE MAN. He’s the main target of UVa’s coaching search.
High praise
While talking to some of the sharpest minds involved in college basketball the past few days at the Greensboro Regional, all agree that if Virginia can land Tubby Smith, it would be insane to look anywhere else.
Texas coach Rick Barnes, whose Longhorns eliminated Smith’s Minnesota team on Thursday night, was his most vocal supporter.
“Anybody would be crazy not to go after Tubby Smith,” said Barnes. “You go back and see what he’s done everywhere he’s been, whether it’s Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky or Minnesota. As long as I’ve been in this business I don’t know if there’s a guy that’s more liked, more well-respected than Tubby. The fact is he’s always done it right. He’s always won and he always will.”
About then, some of Barnes’ colleagues pitched in that they thought anybody would be crazy not to go after him as the next coach.
Barnes answered back, “Well, I was coach at Virginia for one day.”
That’s another column.
In good company
There was no question that Barnes considered Tubby at the same coaching level as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, and other Hall of Famers around the country.
“I think of Mike [Krzyzewski] and Tubby the same way,” Barnes said. “What makes them great is they truly understand their personnel. They put their personnel in the best possible position. They’re not afraid to change things from start to finish.”
Ever since last Monday, when we were the first to project that Smith was the frontrunner for the Virginia vacancy, there has been all sorts of speculation.
Want my opinion? The more digging I do, the more I’m convinced that Tubby will be Virginia’s next basketball coach.
Forget that gobbledygook about UVa going out and hiring a search firm to assist in the process. Standard operating procedure. Nothing new, not even in Charlottesville.
Virginia hired such a firm last time, and see where it got them.
Director of athletics Craig Littlepage needs to trust his gut and stay the course. Virginia could have had Tubby four years ago but politics crossed things up. This time, the Cavaliers can’t afford to screw things up.
Certainly there is an allure to Virginia. Tubby’s family is from Maryland. His wife Donna’s family is from the Richmond area. There’s roots all over. He coached at VCU. He played at High Point, not far from the Greensboro Coliseum where his team ended its season two days ago. He has been longtime friends with Littlepage.
He’d be coming home.
He would also be coaching in the ACC, the premiere coach’s league in the country, going eyeball-to-eyeball with Krzyzewski and the Williams boys, Roy and Gary, among other familiar faces.
Money?
Yeah, it’s a factor. But who’s got more money than Virginia? Look around, the Cavaliers have sugar daddies everywhere that are disgusted with the state of Wahoo basketball.
They didn’t build the nation’s best new arena to go 4-12.
Anyone who questions if Tubby is past his prime doesn’t know basketball. He’ll be 58 in June — which, by the way, is four years younger than Krzyzewski, and that guy isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
This columnist spent most of the time Wednesday and Thursday observing Tubby Smith in action: the way he handled fans; the way he handled media; the way he handled his players during practice, during games, in the huddle during time outs; the way he handled himself.
I was even more impressed with Smith after studying him than before, and I was already impressed.
Yeah, there are some younger candidates, but not any BETTER candidates.
Littlepage and his staff are keenly aware of this and are on course. These sorts of things are always done behind the scenes, usually between agents and lawyers and athletic administrators and school presidents.
Don’t expect it to be an overnight process. It takes time to line up these kinds of deals.
But it’s the best deal Virginia could possibly make. Tubby Smith coming to Virginia would be the best thing that’s happened to Wahoo basketball since Ralph Sampson signed on the dotted line.
Tubby is the right pick for Virginia
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: March 21, 2009
GREENSBORO, N.C.
Tubby Smith, men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota, is a wanted man.
Not by the law, mind you, but by two major universities 900 miles apart. Minnesota has him and wants to keep him. The University of Virginia wants him to revive its downtrodden basketball program.
While issuing the standard “I’m happy, I have a good job, I’m not looking at anything else” statement when the matter was bridged during Wednesday’s NCAA tournament interview session, Tubby said that while it’s important to be wanted, it’s more important to be needed.
No one needs him more than Virginia, where basketball, by outgoing coach Dave Leitao’s assessment, has been “irrelevant” on the college hoops landscape for the past 10 years.
From everything I can gather in talking to my network of sources, Tubby Smith is THE MAN. He’s the main target of UVa’s coaching search.
High praise
While talking to some of the sharpest minds involved in college basketball the past few days at the Greensboro Regional, all agree that if Virginia can land Tubby Smith, it would be insane to look anywhere else.
Texas coach Rick Barnes, whose Longhorns eliminated Smith’s Minnesota team on Thursday night, was his most vocal supporter.
“Anybody would be crazy not to go after Tubby Smith,” said Barnes. “You go back and see what he’s done everywhere he’s been, whether it’s Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky or Minnesota. As long as I’ve been in this business I don’t know if there’s a guy that’s more liked, more well-respected than Tubby. The fact is he’s always done it right. He’s always won and he always will.”
About then, some of Barnes’ colleagues pitched in that they thought anybody would be crazy not to go after him as the next coach.
Barnes answered back, “Well, I was coach at Virginia for one day.”
That’s another column.
In good company
There was no question that Barnes considered Tubby at the same coaching level as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, and other Hall of Famers around the country.
“I think of Mike [Krzyzewski] and Tubby the same way,” Barnes said. “What makes them great is they truly understand their personnel. They put their personnel in the best possible position. They’re not afraid to change things from start to finish.”
Ever since last Monday, when we were the first to project that Smith was the frontrunner for the Virginia vacancy, there has been all sorts of speculation.
Want my opinion? The more digging I do, the more I’m convinced that Tubby will be Virginia’s next basketball coach.
Forget that gobbledygook about UVa going out and hiring a search firm to assist in the process. Standard operating procedure. Nothing new, not even in Charlottesville.
Virginia hired such a firm last time, and see where it got them.
Director of athletics Craig Littlepage needs to trust his gut and stay the course. Virginia could have had Tubby four years ago but politics crossed things up. This time, the Cavaliers can’t afford to screw things up.
Certainly there is an allure to Virginia. Tubby’s family is from Maryland. His wife Donna’s family is from the Richmond area. There’s roots all over. He coached at VCU. He played at High Point, not far from the Greensboro Coliseum where his team ended its season two days ago. He has been longtime friends with Littlepage.
He’d be coming home.
He would also be coaching in the ACC, the premiere coach’s league in the country, going eyeball-to-eyeball with Krzyzewski and the Williams boys, Roy and Gary, among other familiar faces.
Money?
Yeah, it’s a factor. But who’s got more money than Virginia? Look around, the Cavaliers have sugar daddies everywhere that are disgusted with the state of Wahoo basketball.
They didn’t build the nation’s best new arena to go 4-12.
Anyone who questions if Tubby is past his prime doesn’t know basketball. He’ll be 58 in June — which, by the way, is four years younger than Krzyzewski, and that guy isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
This columnist spent most of the time Wednesday and Thursday observing Tubby Smith in action: the way he handled fans; the way he handled media; the way he handled his players during practice, during games, in the huddle during time outs; the way he handled himself.
I was even more impressed with Smith after studying him than before, and I was already impressed.
Yeah, there are some younger candidates, but not any BETTER candidates.
Littlepage and his staff are keenly aware of this and are on course. These sorts of things are always done behind the scenes, usually between agents and lawyers and athletic administrators and school presidents.
Don’t expect it to be an overnight process. It takes time to line up these kinds of deals.
But it’s the best deal Virginia could possibly make. Tubby Smith coming to Virginia would be the best thing that’s happened to Wahoo basketball since Ralph Sampson signed on the dotted line.
