‘Looking forward to returning to Kentucky!’ Former UK coach to lead team into Rupp.
There will be three of what could be considered homecoming games on Kentucky’s non-conference basketball schedule for 2021-22.
In addition to former UK point guard Sean Woods leading his Southern team against Kentucky, the home schedule will also include a game against former Coach Tubby Smith and his High Point team.
Kentucky will play High Point on Dec. 31, UK Coach John Calipari tweeted on Monday.
“We are going to host (High Point) and welcome back @Coach Tubby Smith in @Rupp_Arena for the first time since his days as our coach,” Calipari tweeted. “We are working on some ways to honor Tubby and his time here.
“And I can’t wait to fill in the #BBN in the near future.”
A third “homecoming game” will feature Kentucky playing Central Michigan, which hired former UK assistant Tony Barbee as coach earlier this offseason. That game will be Nov. 27.
Smith was Kentucky coach from 1997-98 through the 2006-07 seasons. In that time, UK won five Southeastern Conference regular-season championships and five league tournament titles. The Cats also advanced to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament, including the ultimate advancement to the 1998 national championship.
With Smith as coach, Kentucky had a winning percentage of .760 (263-83). The winning percentages of other UK coaches in the post-Adolph Rupp era include Joe B. Hall’s .748 (297-100), Rick Pitino’s .814 (219-50) and Calipari’s .785 (339-93).
Smith’s record at High Point in three seasons is 34-53. Overall as a college head coach, his record is 631-355 (.640).
“We are very excited for our Panthers to compete against @UKCoachCalipari and the Wildcats this year,” Smith tweeted. “Looking forward to returning to Kentucky!”
Smith, a graduate of High Point, is one of only three coaches to lead five different schools to the NCAA Tournament. He did so with Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas Tech.
The other two are Rick Pitino and Lon Kruger.
During Smith’s time as coach, Kentucky played High Point three times. UK won all three games by an average margin of 31 points. Earlier this month, Kentucky announced it will play Southern on Dec. 7 in what was called the Unity Series. UK will play a school from the Southwestern Athletic Conference in each of the next five seasons.
Later Monday, Kentucky announced its full non-conference schedule, which will include nine games in Rupp Arena. In addition to Southern, High Point and Central Michigan, UK will play archrival Louisville on Dec. 22.
The schedule does not include the previously announced game at Michigan on Dec. 4. Kentucky chose not to play the game this season, Michigan said in a news release. UK spokesman Eric Lindsey cited “scheduling challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic” as the reason the game will not be played.
Kentucky and Michigan are still scheduled to play in London, England, in December of 2022, Michigan said. The schools are continuing to discuss how to play the home-and-home games that are part of the original three-game contract.
Kentucky’s other non-league home games this coming season are against Robert Morris (Nov. 12), Mount St. Mary’s (Nov. 16), Ohio (Nov. 19), Albany (Nov. 22) and North Florida (Nov. 26).
Kentucky has also announced non-conference games against Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Kentucky will play exhibition games against Kentucky Wesleyan (Oct. 29) and Miles College (Nov. 5).
UK’s non-conference schedule
Kentucky announced its complete non-conference men’s basketball schedule for 2021-22 on Monday (home games in all capital letters):
Oct. 15: BIG BLUE MADNESS
Oct. 22: BLUE-WHITE GAME
Oct. 29: KENTUCKY WESLEYAN-x
Nov. 5: MILES COLLEGE-x
Nov. 9: Duke-1
Nov. 12: ROBERT MORRIS-2
Nov. 16: MOUNT ST. MARY’S-2
Nov. 19: OHIO-2
Nov. 22: ALBANY
Nov. 26: NORTH FLORIDA
Nov. 29: CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Dec. 7: SOUTHERN-3
Dec. 11: At Notre Dame
Dec. 18: Ohio State-4
Dec. 22: LOUISVILLE
Dec. 31: HIGH POINT
Jan. 29: At Kansas-5
1-Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York; 2-Kentucky Classic in Rupp Arena; 3-Unity Series in Rupp Arena; 4-CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas; 5-Big 12/SEC Challenge. x-Exhibition game.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 1:54 PM.
