Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
There’s more reason than one which led to the departure of Tubby Smith to Minnesota in the spring of 2007, but one of the major reasons that could have been behind his decision to leave Kentucky is one that many fans overlook. In a 2009 WKYT story, Dick Gabriel pointed out that Tubby wanted to create an opportunity for his son, Saul, to coach under him. Given the current state of affairs at Kentucky and a University anti-nepotism policy, heading elsewhere was the best option for Tubby to create such an opportunity for his son, and you can’t blame a man for making a career change to benefit his family. Saul did work at Kentucky as a graduate assistant, but did not hold a regular paid position. Below is an excerpt of Gabriel’s story which also touches on the close bond between the elder and younger Smith’s.
What made Smith think about a change of address in earnest was his desire to have his son, Saul, join his coaching staff. Everybody knows what kind of pressure he was under to make changes among his assistants, even after the 2004-05 season that saw him a rebound or two away from that elusive second trip to the Final Four.
Call it loyalty, call it stubbornness, Tubby dug in. But toward the end, sources tell me, he agreed to clean house (with the exception of Dave Hobbs) if he could bring Saul on board.
Trouble was, UK has an anti-nepotism policy, the same one of which former Athletics Director Larry Ivy ran afoul when his step-son, Rob Manchester, landed a graduate assistant’s job with the football team.
It’s understandable as to why Smith would want to hire his own son, who eventually did join him at Minnesota. I can relate; my own son, Jack, sometimes travels with me to sporting events to lend a hand. My daughter Kate often pitches in on the UK broadcasts at Commonwealth Stadium and Rupp Arena. I enjoy having them around, seeing as how just last week they were toddlers.
And if you read Gene Wojciechowski’s excellent piece in ESPN The Magazine a few years ago, you’d understand the special bond between Tubby and Saul. Tubby and Donna nearly lost Saul when he was very young to a medical condition requiring extensive surgery, instilling within them the fear no parent should have to experience.
Whatever you may have thought about Tubby as a coach at Kentucky, he’s unquestionably a great man and a great father. Tubby and Saul have each been great representatives of the University and both played a major part in bringing us our seventh National Championship, and we salute them both today, on Father’s Day. It wasn’t easy playing for his father at Kentucky and the criticism he faced from fans at home, but mostly on the road, were unfair. No, he wasn’t the greatest talent, but there simply wasn’t a great backup point guard behind Wayne Turner on the roster when Rick Pitino left for Boston, and Tubby brought in Saul to fill that void. In Tubby and Saul’s time together at Kentucky, the Cats captured three SEC Championships, three SEC Tournament titles and one NCAA National Championship. Saul even ranks 10th all-time at UK in career assists with 363 and led the Wildcats in assists during both the 1999-2000 and the 2000-01 seasons and in steals with 51 during the 2000-01 season.
Saul followed Sean Sutton to become the second UK basketball player to play for his father. Could Brad Calipari, a rising Sophomore at Lexington Christian Academy, be the next son to play for his Dad at UK? Brad has played competitively on the AAU circuit and is already taller than Brian Long. If it meant that his Dad would be here in Lexington for at least another seven years to have Brad at UK as a walk-on, I am positive that Big Blue Nation would welcome Brad with open arms.
Other UK father and son duo’s that come to mind are Dicky Lyons Sr. and Lyons Jr. on the football field, as well as Jim LeMaster and his son Preston LeMaster.
If you have your own special UK-related story involving your father or son, please share with us in the comment section below.
Happy Father’s Day!
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Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
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June 17th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
So, who cares now? Anyone have any information on incoming recruits?
June 17th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
This was actually talked about quite a bit when Tubby left. Sorry, no scoop here.
June 17th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
I try to block out Tubby’s last few years, but it always pisses me off when I read about it. Our coaching staff his last two years was David Hobbs, Scott Rigot, and Reggie Hanson.
WHY WAS HE ALLOWED TO HIRE AN INCOMPETENT STAFF!?!?!?
June 17th, 2012 at 6:41 pm
I think I’m gonna puke ……………..
June 17th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
He knew UK had a nepotism rule. UK decided to uphold it. UK had a mandatory retirement age of 70 when Coach Rupp hit that age. They upheld that too. I understand Tubby not agreeing with the rule, however, instead of honoring the rule, and working very hard to recruit the very best and strive to put his employer in a position to compete for national championships, he decided to try to tank the program and begin recruiting players who were at best mid-major and at worst were D-II players. Happy Fathers Day, but don’t ask me to be sentimental towards a guy who had the keys to the Mercedes and tried to turn it into a Yugo.
June 17th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
In Tubby’s last years here, he brought in Jodie Meeks and Derick Jasper, and was close to signing Patterson and Lucas. Yeah, the program was having a few down years, but he wasn’t intentionally not trying to bring in good players. Let’s put blame on the drunk who is actually responsible for crashing UK to the ground, not the guy who was there before him and gave us #7. I am glad the way things eventually turned out with Cal here of course, but that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize Tubby as a great coach, great man, and a great father.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:02 pm
You are a liar when you state that Tubby was/is unquestionably a great man. I question the hell out of this assertion. Great men give. People like Tubby take. I hope that you never write for this site again. You make me sick!!!!!!!!!
June 17th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
It has been fourteen since “Tubby the taker” has been to the final four with another man’s players. I despise the time he was at UK.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:06 pm
I know it was way before your time on earth and he rarely played, but there was another coach/son combo at UK long before the Suttons or Smiths. Adolph Rupp’s son, Herky, played in the early 60′s.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Yeah, the program was having a few down years, but he wasn’t intentionally not trying to bring in good players.
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Are you retarded? The idiot also wasn’t intentionally trying to bring in good players. He made UK a laughing stock. Under this clown we became insignificant. I head the word “insignificant” used to describe us under Tubby hundreds of time.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:14 pm
8) Get off your high horse Rocky and do us all a favor and never comment again. Who the hell needs fans like you on this site. It’s going to a rough day for you when Tubby gets his name put in the rafters huh?
June 17th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Yo Rocky… U mad bro?
June 17th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
6. I disagree, Tubby literally quit recruiting and fighting for recruits. He was lazy. I remember one year they asked one of the top ten recruits why he didnt consider UK and he said, Tubby never even called him.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
Your talking about a man who benched Rajon Rondo in favor of a walk-on. Tubby is now coaching where he belongs.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Tubby did a major disservice to BBN and even to his own son by pracitcing nepotism when Saul was a player at UK. Saul was not good enough to be on the team, let alone start a PG for 2 years. And Saul played a very very very very small role for the Cats winning #7. That particular situation was the biggest problem I had with Tubby when he was at Kentucky. His boring style of play was second.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:44 pm
Once again you have your facts wrong. Herky Rupp played for UK from 1959-1962. There was a little thing called UK basketball before Pitino.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Smith_Saulgbg.html
Saul was good enough to play at Kentucky at the time. His numbers are not the best in UK history and they are very far from the worst. Like John said, PITINO didn’t have another point guard on the roster and Tubby coached up a team on paper that had no business winning the title.
June 17th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
*didn’t have another backup point guard after Turner
June 17th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
I didnt know Prince played at Kentucky, Charlie Murphy was right!
June 17th, 2012 at 8:23 pm
No one wants to be the guy to replace the guy. They want to be the guy to replace the guy who replaces the guy. We fell off after Tubby (BCG), not Pitino. Thankful for that.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:29 pm
When all-time great Pete Maravich was being recruited out of high school there was an ongoing discussion about whether or not he should play for his Dad at LSU. Someone asked Adolph Rupp what he thought about it. Coach Rupp said he thought Pete should play for his Dad because Herky played for me and it worked out great! Herky scored 11 points in his 3 year varsity career, Pete did a little better but to Coach Rupp it seemed to be the same.
June 17th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Please do mot start a Tubby Smith was a great coach crap again here, UK and the BBN was forced imto a decade of Boringball that almosy destroyed the Program
GreatPerson, maybe. GreatFather, perhaps. Great Coach, Bull@#$@
He was the biggest coaching mistake ever made at UK amd had made UK a division two program. Everyone calling for his removal was labelled a raxist even though everyone knew his removal was 5 tears overdue. Uik had fone from a National Power to laughing stock and was now being pityed on TV.
If you are going to last on KSR let the Tubby era of pain be forgotten
June 17th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
22) really? Tubby a bigger mistake than Gillispie. C’mon…
June 17th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
#17- Saul probably was the worst who played 3000+ minutes in his career. And it was Tubby’s choice to not recruit over him, and put UK in a situation where Saul ended up a 2 year starter. There were DOZENS of guys that Tubby could have brought in who were better players. He made no real effort to supplant Saul, and when he finally did manage to bring in a better talent (Cliff Hawkins), that better talent’s asthma suddenly got worse (according to Tubby, not Hawkins), “preventing” him from taking much of Saul’s PT.
Tubby might be a great father, but he did a complete and total disservice to UK in how he handled coaching his son. It was horrible judgement from Day 1 that Saul arrived at UK until he graduated, and then even more stunning that Tubby would have the gall to try and bring him back as an assistant.
June 17th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
The manner in which Tubby Smith handled his departure from Lexington was unprofessional and certainly insightful into Smith’s true character. At that time, the program was clearly in decline and Smith was being routinely out-coached and recruiting was, in a word, abysmal. So Smith packed it up and headed out, basically under the cover of darkness. The blindly-loyal Smith defenders will forever defend his coaching career at UK and attempt to place him on a pedestal that time and facts will show he does not deserve. It must be a really slow “news” day at KSR for this story to appear at this point and time, all things considered.
June 17th, 2012 at 11:05 pm
Shagari, Orbzut, Cote, Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas, Carruth, Marankayo Williams, Adam Williams, Porter (turned out great)…Tubby SIGNED those guys to play for us…borderline criminal…I’m sure I’m missing more…and wasted Rondo…wow
June 18th, 2012 at 12:24 am
Omar Cook was the top pg in high school. He wanted to go to UK and publicly said he didn’t think he could compete with the coaches son for pt. So he went to ST. johns and ate Saul up beating UK. That somes up the Saul years.
June 18th, 2012 at 4:16 am
This is a joke, right?
June 18th, 2012 at 5:45 am
26: “packed it up and headed out, basically under the cover of darkness.”
Calipari says hi Memphis!
June 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am
Does anyone remember Tubby trying to explain his ” ball Line defense” on national TV. LOL Was damn clear even he did not have a clue about what he was trying to describe. Ego manic and I was glad to see him go.
June 18th, 2012 at 8:23 am
Saul Smith drove me crazy. No other UK coach would have ever recruited him. I remember Sheray Thomas on senior night…his last game as a Wildcat..and he was afraid to shoot the ball, that dude was flat out pitiful. Booby Perry was no good either. I liked Tubby but he simply could not get the job done when it came to getting good players.
June 18th, 2012 at 8:55 am
26, you got some guys on your list who don’t belong. Woo and Perry are Cats forever and deserve to be honored. There should have been other talent sufficient that they didn’t have to start, but they earned their scholarships. Woo earned his with that one Louisville game alone. He wasn’t the greatest talent, but I would take a kid with his heart over a lazy bum like Randolph Morris any day.
And his attitude notwithstanding, remember that Shagari WAS a top 50 recuit. A LOT of people wanted him. I guarantee you that any team in the country with an open scholarship would have taken him at that time, based on potential alone. If Tubby should be blamed for anything concerning Shagari, it’s failing to develop him properly.
June 18th, 2012 at 9:01 am
UK’s nepotism rule hasn’t prevented Barnhart from hiring his daughter. It was why Tubby left, and it was reported at the time. He agreed to change some of his staff, but Saul was to be part of the change. Tubby is very old school, as they say; part of the racism in the reactions to him are suppositions that he’s lazy or dumb. He’s from a military family. He expects respect, doesn’t believe in cowtowing to teenagers pumped up by their ‘entourages’, doesn’t put up with nonsense even from major talents (he rightly benched Rondo for the middle part of his sophomore season), and knows basketball is a game. Cal deeply respects Tubby, there will be an occasion for his expressing that in more detail. Saul meant more to him than the job. Family, respect, discipline – virtues. I love Cal, still prefer Tubby. From what I understand he maintains the foundations he created in Lexington and intends on retiring here. Lucky Lexington.
June 18th, 2012 at 9:02 am
As for developing players, look at the NBA record of Tubby’s ex-players. It is beyond Pitino’s and Cal’s, to date. Cal will shortly pass him in that regard of course.
June 18th, 2012 at 9:07 am
Tubby knew what he had left at UK when he left. He left in time to save face before he was completely embarassed. The man took over a championship team and year by year got worse and worse. Saul was the begining of things to come from the Tubby era. What a joke. I don’t care what you say BCG gets the team Tubby was left with instead of the team Tubby left him BCG wouldn’t be so bad. Porter as a PG for UK was the worst in history, Mark Coury, Jared Carter. Just thinking about how bad Tubby left the program is sickening. Check out the interview when Tubby talks about leaving a program in better shape when he leaves than when he got it. He studders and gets real distant because he knows what he did here
June 18th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Ten-Loss Tub left because he had to leave because he wasn’t getting it done. I’m glad he and the young’un could be reunited in Minnesota. I’m also glad it didn’t happen at UK. I was in Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16 when word trickled in that he had resigned. No one was sad.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Wayne Turner was an NCAA Champion starting point guard in 1998, and was undoubtably one of the best point guards in the country in 1999. Yet Tubby played him only 28.7 minutes per game during his senior year, gifting Saul 17.1 minutes per game. Ridiculous and self-serving.
UK was burying Michigan State in the 1st half of the ’99 Elite 8 game when Tubby pulled all starters to insert Saul and the 2nd squad near the 16:00 minute mark. The score might have been 16-4 or something similar. It was all downhill from there. That loss was 100% on Tubby.
Here’s a look at minutes for UK PG’s in their final UK season:
Knight ’11 = 35.9
Bradley ’08 = 35.1
Wall ’10 = 34.8
Teague ’12 = 32.5
Rando = 31.0
Hawkins ’04 = 30.5
Smith ’01 = 29.3
Turner ’99 = 28.7 ** led team to NCAA Championship previous year
Porter ’09 = 23.5
June 18th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
That may have played a role in his decision to leave but it was ultimately the fact that he wasn’t getting it done on the court and couldn’t handle top recruits so he rarely recruited them. The talent disparity between UK and other elite programs was night and day. Even commentators were saying UK no longer has the talent to compete. We were a joke. A shell of our former UK self. UK was no longer elite and that is unacceptable. It was Tubby’s time to go. Unfortunately Barnhart royally screwed UK basketball by hiring BCG but at least that didn’t last long and now we have Cal. Why we continue to rehash the Tubby and BCG era is beyond me. They’re gone and we have the best coach in the nation and just one a national championship.
June 18th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
“even after the 2004-05 season that saw him a rebound or two away from that elusive second trip to the Final Four.”
Elusive? Ha!