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Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 08-02-2018, 01:04 PM:

I was flying from New York to Atlanta last week, and noticed a familiar face standing and chatting with a few people. I walked over and waited patiently until the conversation ended and the small group left me alone with...

Tubby Smith.

He is a gracious, friendly man. We had a brief conversation and I left feeling like I just had a chat with an old friend more than with a major figure in UK history.

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 08-02-2018, 02:09 PM:

I've always liked Tubby. He gave me his UK lapel pin after a UK vs. AU game once. He was on his way to the team bus and I was getting his autograph when I noticed the pin, I said cool pin, he looked at me took it off and said here you go.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 08-02-2018, 07:01 PM:

Tubby is all class!

Posted by blue hoot (Member # 398) on 08-03-2018, 11:12 AM:

Agree, I always thought he had exceptional class.

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 08-03-2018, 11:17 AM:

A buddy of mine met him at a hotel in Vegas some years ago and got a photo with him. Said he was just the nicest guy.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 08-04-2018, 03:15 PM:

I have heard good and bad stories about him. Since my stories are just hearsay.

He had a good run as HC of the program. It lasted several years too long. UK was not relevant, in has later years.

Had they hired Donovan, I think the program would have been better off. I have never been a fan of Donovan, though.

It is the narrow mindedness that cost them in the first place. Had to hire somebody with UK ties. That is a load of crap. When you are one of the top programs of all time, you don't narrow your search to those parameters.

[ 08-06-2018, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: boomdaddy ]

Posted by clydeh (Member # 7) on 08-04-2018, 04:40 PM:

I have always had great respect for Tubby.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 08-04-2018, 06:27 PM:

AP College Coach of the Year (2003)
Naismith College Coach of the Year (2003)
NABC Coach of the Year (2003)
Henry Iba Award (2003)
Jim Phelan Award (2005)
2× MVC Coach of the Year (1994, 1995)
3× SEC Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005)
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2016)[4]
John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2016)
Sporting News National Coach of the Year (2016)

In his 27 years as a head coach, Smith has achieved 25 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 coach in history to lead five different teams to the NCAA tournament.

Link

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 08-04-2018, 11:49 PM:

quote:
I won't rain on the man crush that is going on.

Man crush? Really?

I said I met a major figure from UK history, and found him to be a nice man. I made no comment on his success or failure as a coach. I did not fawn over his character. I merely reported an unexpected meeting with someone we all would be familiar with.

Sometimes, Boom, you seem to want to rub people the wrong way. What did that gain you?

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 08-05-2018, 02:10 PM:

He does not go down as one of the best coaches that UK has ever had.

1. Rupp

2. Caipari

3. Pitino ,,,I can't stand Pitino.....but I have to rank him #3

Joe Hall and Tubby can fight it out in the middle of the pack coaches.

I will restate it again. He stayed way too long, and furthermore, the athletics department let him hang around way too long.

By the way, he left like a thief in the night and had a back door deal with another school, 6 months before it happened.

How terrible was the AD? He was caught with his pants down and made a terrible hire in Billy Clyde.

What has he done since he left UK? It seems like none of his other schools wanted to keep him around.

If I were a Bulldog alum and fan, I would probably say how lucky my school was to have Tubby as the coach, until he left for a bigger program.

I measure coaches by what they accomplish, not if they are willing to talk to me at the airport or sign an autograph.

[ 08-06-2018, 08:23 PM: Message edited by: boomdaddy ]

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 08-05-2018, 06:13 PM:

boom i cant speak for tip of course but I took his comment as to how nice tubby the "man" is nothing to do with coaching at ky. I talked with tubby several times and he is very approachable unlike most of the self centered coaches are. He is a nice person no more no less!

p.s. to add my thoughts of tubby being the coach at ky (especially now days) requires one to be a great recruiter and a great coach. Tubby failed as a recruiter at ky but his x and o's made up somewhat for that aspect of the game. His overall style (recruiting/x-o)is great for GA and Minn type teams but not for blue bloods like ky. duke, nc and KU..

Still however he is a very very nice man! as is his whole family

[ 08-05-2018, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: ukcatfannfl ]

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 08-05-2018, 08:27 PM:

Boom, sounds to me that you have some suppressed feelings, if you took us talking about how nice of a person Tubby is for having a man crush.

Posted by MountainMafia (Member # 2066) on 08-06-2018, 08:57 AM:

quote:
boom i cant speak for tip of course but I took his comment as to how nice tubby the "man" is nothing to do with coaching at ky. I talked with tubby several times and he is very approachable unlike most of the self centered coaches are. He is a nice person no more no less!

p.s. to add my thoughts of tubby being the coach at ky (especially now days) requires one to be a great recruiter and a great coach. Tubby failed as a recruiter at ky but his x and o's made up somewhat for that aspect of the game. His overall style (recruiting/x-o)is great for GA and Minn type teams but not for blue bloods like ky. duke, nc and KU..

Still however he is a very very nice man! as is his whole family

Agree 100%. Well, maybe 99.93%. Anyways, spot on.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 08-06-2018, 11:10 AM:

I draw the line with the Bobby KNights and Sean Woods of the coaching world. Besides those kinds of people, I judge a coach by wins, losses, and post season accomplishments.

Tubby may be the nicest person a stranger would ever want to meet in an airport.

He was not nice to the program, imho. He sunk it down to irrelevancy. He put his kid before the program. I didn't agree with Eddie Sutton doing it and I didn't agree with Tubby doing it. Neither of their kids should have been starters.
Yes, both of their sons had more talent than Cal's kid, but they still should not have been starters at UK.

I will take a snob at the airport that doesn't start his kid at my D1 school over a nice guy who doesn't care about winning and recruiting the best players to achieve that goal. When you start your kid, who clearly shouldn't be a starter, the top talent doesn't want to join your team.

[ 08-06-2018, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: boomdaddy ]

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 08-06-2018, 12:19 PM:

Get off it boom. Tip wasnt talking basketball period,,,

Posted by MountainMafia (Member # 2066) on 08-06-2018, 02:54 PM:

Ed

quote:
Tip wasnt talking basketball period

I fact checked this boom, and, as much as Ed and me fuss, I gotta hand him this'n.

Posted by boomdaddy (Member # 2644) on 08-06-2018, 08:19 PM:

I guess I was a little hostile with the "man crush". If I would have left that out, would there have been a stir? That is the way I felt about it, but I should have kept that to myself. Wasn't my intention to be mean spirited, but it may have come across that way. I will try to do better. Would have said the same thing in a bar or at a tailgate. Haven't been punched yet. But, there is always a first time.

[ 08-06-2018, 08:33 PM: Message edited by: boomdaddy ]