Why Tubby Smith is Leaving the University of Kentucky

Why Tubby Smith Is Leaving Kentucky

Until a few days ago, Orlando "Tubby" Smith had what most would consider a college basketball coach's dream job. He for the past ten years was the head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, a team with arguably the highest-standing tradition of excellence in basketball in the country. Kentucky boasts the most wins of any basketball program, second most NCAA championships, second most Final Four appearances, and the list goes on and on. So why, you may ask, would someone voluntarily leave such a prestigious position?

From the beginning, some misguided UK fans were not happy with Coach Smith. Some were unhappy that he had been an assistant coach under Rick Pitino, who had just left the university for the NBA. Others didn't like the fact that he hadn't coached a so-called big name school, despite his great success at Tulsa and Georgia. Still others were upset simply because the man happens to be black. Coach Smith won a national championship in his very first year as the Wildcats' leading man. Still, some fans were not happy. He had won with former coach Pitino's players, they said.

As the years passed and none of Tubby's teams returned to the Final Four, the grumblings grew louder. Fans didn't like his style of play, which was much more focused on defense instead of the run-and-gun, pressing, quick shooting style of previous years. Many top recruits considered attending UK... but signed elsewhere. Wildcat players were getting into trouble with the law on a recurring basis. Still no Final Fours in sight, and very few Sweet Sixteens. Coach Smith earned the nickname "Ten Loss Tubby" after the Wildcats went several years in a row with double-digit losses, many of which were to teams they should have beaten. Finally, the past two seasons brought fans an unheard of travesty; their beloved Wildcats had lost four times in a row to Vanderbilt, of all teams.