Posted at 11:12 a.m., Thursday, March 22, 2007
Kentucky's Tubby Smith to become Minnesota coach
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Kentucky's Tubby Smith will be the University of Minnesota's new basketball coach, a Minnesota school official said today.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Minnesota had not yet announced the hire. The Gophers fired coach Dan Monson in November.
Smith met with the Kentucky players earlier Thursday, said basketball spokesman Scott Stricklin.
Stricklin said he didn't know what Smith told the players and had no further comment.
The news was first reported by ESPN.com and SI.com.
The Wildcats went 22-12 this season and made it to the NCAA tournament, but lost the first weekend. Kentucky hasn't been to the Final Four since 1998, and the program has lost 10 or more games in a season five times under Smith — more than any other coach.
Smith will take over a Minnesota program that struggled for years under Monson, who was hired to rehabilitate the Gophers program after an academic scandal under former coach Clem Haskins. Monson cleaned up the program, but the Gophers didn't win.
Hired from Gonzaga in 1999, Monson was forced to resign seven games into his eighth season with a 118-106 record and one NCAA tournament appearance.
Monson failed to keep a handful of in-state high school stars from choosing other schools and couldn't field a consistent team. Many of his starting lineups were cobbled together with transfers, and the Gophers never found the cohesiveness needed to become a top Big Ten team.
