Gopher Basketball 2008-09 Coaching Staff [ 71 ] Minnesota Basketball 2008-09 Gopher Basketball 2008-09 Head Coach Tubby Smith TUBBY SMITH Head Coach n March 23, 2007 Tubby Smith was announced as the 16th head bas - ketball coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s Basketball pro - gram. One of the most respected coaches in the country and a nation - O al champion was coming to Gold Country to lead the Gopher program. The excitement of bringing one of the top coaches in the country to the University of Minnesota was only matched by the satisfaction of welcoming one of the classiest individuals in the world of college basketball today to the Maroon and Gold. In his first season at the “U”, Smith took a team that had won nine games the season before to a 20-14 record. The Gophers finished sixth in the Big Ten Conference at 8-10 and were the sixth seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The 11-game improvement in the win column from the 2006-07 season is the largest season turn - around in school history and tied for the second-best turnaround in Division I in 2007-08. Also, the five-win improvement in conference play was the second biggest Big Ten turnaround in 2007-08. Smith came to Minnesota with a reputation for winning at the highest level not matched by many coaches in the country. In his 17-year career, he has claimed a National Title (Kentucky in 1997-98), made four “Elite Eight appearances”, nine “Sweet Sixteen” appearances, posted 15 straight 20-win seasons and has the 12th-best active winning percentage of any coach at the Division I level with a 407-159 record (.719). His 407 wins enter - ing this season is also the sixth-best record of any head coach in their first 17 years in NCAA Division I basket - ball, joining such names as Roy Williams, Denny Crum, Jim Boeheim, Nolan Richardson and Jerry Tarkanian. Smith also owns the sixth-best NCAA Tournament record among active coaches. He is currently 29-13 for a .690 winning percentage in the tournament. Smith made 14 straight appearances to the NCAA Tournament span - ning through his 10 years at Kentucky, two seasons at Georgia and his final two seasons at Tulsa (1994-2007). On five different occasions, Smith has been named a conference coach of the year (1994 & 95 in the Missouri Valley Conference and 1998, 2003 & 2005 in the SEC). He has also collected national coach of the year honors on three different occasions (1998, 2003 & 2005). Not only has Smith had elite success, but he has prepared his players to have all the skills necessary to make the jump to the next level. Smith has sent 17 players to the NBA during his coaching career. That list includes recent NBA Champion Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, current Milwaukee Buck Michael Ruffin, Houston Rocket Chuck Hayes, former 10-year veteran Shandon Anderson, Charlotte Bobcat Nazr Mohammed, Detroit Piston Tayshaun Prince, former eight-year veteran Scott Padgett, current Miami Heat Jamaal Magloire, New York Knick Randolph Morris, Golden State Warrior Kelenna Azubuike and Orlando Magic guard Keith Bogans. Other Smith players to reach the NBA include Shea Seals, Wayne Turner, Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch, Jeff Sheppard and [ 72 ] Minnesota Basketball 2008-09 Gopher Basketball 2008-09 Head Coach Tubby Smith Michael Bradley. Orlando “Tubby” Smith That opportunity to play in the NBA was particularly sweet for Rondo, Prince and Anderson, who all realized the At A Glance dream of winning NBA titles. Rondo was the starting point guard for the Celtics as they made their championship run this past NBA season while Prince was an integral part of the 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons. Anderson Born June 30, 1951 was part of a veteran group of players on the Miami Heat who claimed the 2006 NBA Championship. Hometown Scotland, Md. Eight of the players Smith has sent to the NBA heard their names called on draft day. Rondo, Magloire, High School Great Mills (Md.) High School, 1969 Mohammed, Padgett and Prince were each first round draft picks, while Anderson, Ruffin and Bogans each went in College High Point (N.C.), 1973 [B.S. Health and Physical Education] the second round. Prince was also a member of the United States basketball team that won a gold medal at the Family Wife, Donna; Sons, G.G., Saul and Brian 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Daughter-in-law, Lorie Bogans, Padgett and Prince all received All-American honors during their careers at Kentucky. Prince was also Smith is one of 16 children Parents named the 2001 SEC Player of the Year, while Bogans claimed the honors in 2003. Seals was also named an All- Guffrie and Parthenia Smith American during the 1996-97 season for Tulsa. Playing Exp. • A four-year letterwinner at HPU (1970-73), Smith was a Prior to arriving in Big Ten Country, Smith spent 10 seasons (1997-2007) in the Southeastern Conference as team captain as a senior and co-captain as a junior. the head coach at the University of Kentucky. During his tenure with the Wildcats, Smith led Kentucky to the 1998 • All-Carolina Conference selection National championship, four “Elite Eight” appearances, five SEC titles, five SEC Tournament titles and six “Sweet Collegiate Coaching Experience Sixteen” finishes. 1979-86 Assistant Coach Virginia Commonwealth Smith also led the Wildcats to an overall record of 263-83 record for a winning percentage of .760. In his 10 1986-89 Assistant Coach South Carolina seasons with Kentucky, he averaged over 26 wins per season. 1989-91 Assistant Coach Kentucky During that time, Smith was 120-40 in SEC play for a winning percentage of 1991-95 Head Coach Tulsa .750. His 120 wins were 14 more then any other program in the SEC had during 1995-97 Head Coach Georgia Smith’s decade of dominance at Kentucky. 1997-2007 Head Coach Kentucky He also finished in sole 2007- Head Coach Minnesota possession or tied for first in the SEC East in seven of he 10 Coaching Record years he coached the Wildcats. 1991-92 Tulsa 17-13 Smith was 24-7 in SEC 1992-93 Tulsa 15-14 Tournament games for a winning percentage of 1993-94 Tulsa 23-8 NCAA Sweet 16 .774. 1994-95 Tulsa 24-8 NCAA Sweet 16 He made history in the 2002-03 season when he led his 4 seasons Tulsa 79-43 (.648) Kentucky squad to a 16-0 record in SEC regular-season play and guided them to the SEC Tournament Championship. It marked the 1995-96 Georgia 21-10 NCAA Sweet 16 first time since 1952 that an SEC squad had completed both the 1996-97 Georgia 24-9 NCAA First Round conference regular season and tournament without a loss. 2 seasons Georgia 45-19 (.703) After Kentucky had won a National title in 1996 and finished runner up in 1997, Smith took over a squad that had lost six 1997-98 Kentucky 35-4 NCAA Champions 1998-99 Kentucky 28-9 NCAA Elite Eight players over two seasons to the NBA and other key players to 1999-2000 Kentucky 23-10 NCAA Second Round graduation. That season, he guided Kentucky to a 35-4 record 2000-01 Kentucky 24-10 NCAA Sweet 16 and a national title becoming the first coach since Cincinnati’s 2001-02 Kentucky 22-10 NCAA Sweet 16 Ed Jucker in 1961 to win a national title in the first year at a 2002-03 Kentucky 32-4 NCAA Elite Eight school. Smith also stamped the trademark toughness that his 2003-04 Kentucky 27-5 NCAA Second Round teams have been known for that season, guiding Kentucky to 2004-05 Kentucky 28-6 NCAA Elite Eight double-digit comebacks against Duke in the “Elite Eight” and Utah in 2005-06 Kentucky 22-13 NCAA Second Round the National Championship on the way to claiming the national title. 2006-07 Kentucky 22-12 NCAA Second Round Smith’s first year at Georgia was not as publicized, but no less 10 seasons Kentucky 263-83 (.760) remarkable than his first at Kentucky. In the 1995-96 season, his first at Georgia, Smith guided the Bulldogs to their first NCAA 2007-08 Minnesota 20-14 NIT First Round Tournament appearance in five years. Georgia defeated Clemson 1 season Minnesota 20-14 (.588) and No. 1 seeded Purdue, before falling to eventual National Runner-Up Syracuse on a last-second shot in the “Sweet Sixteen”. It 17 seasons Career 407-159 (.719) was the furthest Georgia had advanced in the NCAA Tournament since 1983. Smith also guided the Bulldogs to a 21-10 overall record and second place in the SEC East at 9-7. [ 73 ] Minnesota Basketball 2008-09 Gopher Basketball 2008-09 Head Coach Tubby Smith In his first season at Tulsa, Smith led the Golden Hurricanes to a 17-13 overall record and brought them within three points of making their first Smith’s Coaching Record NCAA Tournament since 1987, as Tulsa fell to SW Missouri State in the MVC 1973-77: Championship game 71-68. Head coach at Great Mills (Md.) High School... Four-year record of 46-36. Despite all of the great first impressions Smith has made in his career, none were grander then his first season at Kentucky. When Smith took the reins for 1977-79: the 1997-98 season, he inherited a balanced roster loaded with role players. An Head coach at Hoke County (N.C.) High School..