‘More than just a basketball coach.’ Tubby Smith’s ex-players applaud UK honoring him.
For ex-Cats who played for him, the ceremonial honoring of Tubby Smith before Friday’s game — while eagerly anticipated as well-deserved recognition of the former Kentucky coach’s accomplishments — contrasts with the man they knew.
They used terms like down to Earth, caring, fatherly and – ouch – grandfatherly when recalling Smith, who coached UK’s teams for 10 seasons beginning in 1997-98.
Scott Padgett, a starting forward for the Kentucky team that won the 1998 NCAA Tournament, said Smith did not need that one shining moment in San Antonio to be distinctive. That came with “the way he carried himself, the way he treated people, the way he cared about things outside of basketball,” Padgett said. “If I was walking past the office and he saw me, he’d pop his head out.”
As Padgett recalled these impromptu coach-player conversations, “he wasn’t talking to me about did you watch film? Or did you get shots up? Or anything like that. He’d ask me, how’s Mom and Dad? How’s your girlfriend? He’d talk to you about regular-life stuff that — to be honest with you — the coaches I knew in my lifetime, he was probably the only one who was really like that.”
For example, Jeff Sheppard, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 Final Four, said Smith’s coaching approach differed from his predecessor at UK, Rick Pitino. That’s not to say one was right and the other wrong, Sheppard said. Both coaching styles reaped success.
“Coach Pitino motivated in a way that we would run through a brick wall out of fear,” Sheppard said. “Coach Smith motivated in a way that we would run through a brick wall because of a relationship. He was very fatherly, grandfatherly.”
Kentucky will retire a jersey in Smith’s honor before Friday’s noon game against Smith’s High Point team in Rupp Arena. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 11:40 a.m. in order to see the ceremony.
‘That’s a basketball coach?’
Allen Edwards, another starter on UK’s 1998 championship team, remembered Smith as a presence in the Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge. It was not unusual for the coach to eat meals with the players.
That Smith would engage the players about off-the-court issues surprised Wayne Turner, the point guard on the 1998 championship team.
“That’s a basketball coach?” he said he thought. “Why is he worried about that? As I got to know him, I started to learn he was more than just a basketball coach.”
When asked about his approach to coaching, Smith said his philosophy was “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Smith cited his father, Guffrie, as an inspiration. The elder Smith was quiet and eager to help others, whether it was volunteering to plow a garden or give free haircuts or share fruits and vegetables from his garden.
“He saw me coaching and acting crazy and stupid on the sideline screaming and hollering and cursing,” Smith said. “And he said, boy, you’re going to have a heart attack.”
That’s not to say Smith did not also crack the metaphorical whip. The screaming and hollering did not cease.
Smith might apologize later, he said, before adding with a chuckle, “but sometimes they deserve it.”
When asked what he remembered about playing for Smith, Turner said, “Well, I remember the 6 a.m. practices we had for about two months. I definitely remember that.”
Yes, Turner said, Smith employed the tried and true coaching tools of discipline, accountability and persistent demand for more-more-more.
The “Tubby stare” has not been forgotten.
“He’d give you that stare where he looked like his eyes would pop out of his head,” Padgett said. “He’d raise his voice now and then. But that really wasn’t who he was. As I look at it now as a coach, Coach (Smith) is really a teacher. And I think he was consistently trying to teach the game, consistently trying to improve players.”
‘It’s a blessing’
The former UK players spoke of an enduring connection to Smith.
Padgett said one of the first calls he received after being fired as Samford coach in 2020 was from Smith.
“When we talk, it’s probably 25 percent basketball and 75 percent he asks about my wife and kids,” Padgett said. “It definitely let’s you know he cares about you.”
Edwards said Smith gave him advice about entering the coaching profession not once, but twice.
The first time came as Edwards mulled his future. Although interested in coaching, he applied for a job at UPS because he needed to provide for a newborn daughter.
Edwards called Smith to say he was weighing whether to continue playing or take the UPS job if offered. Yet, he really wanted to coach, Edwards said, but was naive about how to make that happen.
Edwards said he asked if Smith could help him get into coaching.
“The way he answered the question changed my life,” Edwards said. “He said in his true Tubby voice (Edwards sped up his cadence), ‘I could use you right now.’”
After working on UK’s coaching staff as an assistant/manager for a year, Edwards got an offer to join Kyle Macy’s staff at Morehead State. Again, he went to Smith, this time wondering if he should stay at UK to complete work on a Master’s degree or join Morehead State’s staff as an assistant coach.
“You can get a Master’s degree anytime,” Edwards recalled Smith saying. “But you’ll get this (coaching) experience (at Morehead State).”
Said Edwards, now an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount, “He’s been an integral part of my career, and it’s a blessing.”
Role model
Turner credited Smith with giving him “life lessons” and setting an important example for others.
“I never saw a successful Black man like Tubby Smith,” Turner said. “And when I saw that, it gave me all the hope in the world that I could be successful as well. . . . If you work hard and you believe in yourself and you pursue your dreams, things can happen for you.
“Tubby always told me that. He always told us that.”
The former Kentucky players said it made an impression on them that Smith could succeed and wield influence as UK coach, yet remain true to himself. They said he was an important role model who tempered his influence with graciousness.
“I know Tubby was never on a power trip,” Turner said, “even though he had a lot of power.
“I had never seen anyone on that pedestal who was Black. . . . someone who looked like me. So, it made me feel like there’s hope.”
Edwards cannot attend the ceremony honoring Smith prior to UK’s game against High Point on Friday. Loyola Marymount is playing Gonzaga on Saturday.
Sheppard and Turner said they plan to attend the ceremony honoring Smith.
Smith said he expected 10 to 15 family members and personal friends to attend.
“I think it’ll be a gracious, warm reception,” he said. “I hope so. I’m just appreciative of this opportunity.”
Turner, who said he shed a tear when he watched UK announce it would put Smith’s name in the Rupp Arena rafters, will be there. He said it wasn’t until after his college career ended that he could appreciate Smith being the first Black coach for Kentucky.
“Wow, we were really a part of history outside of just winning a championship,” he said. “So, we were grateful to be a part of his legacy.”
Friday
High Point at No. 18 Kentucky
When: Noon
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: High Point 6-7, Kentucky 10-2
Series: Kentucky leads 3-0
Last meeting: Kentucky won 75-55 on Nov. 29, 2005, in Lexington.
UK’s retired jerseys
Tubby Smith will join a list of 43 previous honorees associated with UK men’s basketball:
Cliff Barker (1947-49)
Ralph Beard (1946-49)
Jerry Bird (1954-56)
Sam Bowie (1980-81, 1984)
Bob Burrow (1955-56)
Burgess Carey (1925-26)
Johnny Cox (1957-59)
Louie Dampier (1965-67)
Tony Delk (1993-96)
John DeMoisey (1932-34)
Billy Evans (1952, 1954-55)
Richie Farmer (1989-92)
Deron Feldhaus (1989-92)
Jack Givens (1975-78)
Phil Grawemeyer (1954-56)
Kevin Grevey (1973-75)
Alex Groza (1945, 1947-49)
Cliff Hagan (1951-52, 1954)
Joe B. Hall (1973-85)
Vernon Hatton (1956-58)
Basil Hayden (1920-22)
Dan Issel (1968-70)
Wallace Jones (1946-49)
Bill Keightley (1962-2008)
Cawood Ledford (1953-92)
Kyle Macy (1978-80)
Jamal Mashburn (1991-93)
Cotton Nash (1962-64)
John Pelphrey (1989-92)
Rick Pitino (1990-97)
Frank Ramsey (1951-52, 1954)
Pat Riley (1965-67)
Rick Robey (1975-78)
Kenny Rollins (1943, 1947-48)
Gayle Rose (1952, 1954-55)
Layton Rouse (1938-40)
Adolph Rupp (1931-72)
Forest Sale (1931-33)
Carey Spicer (1929-31)
Bill Spivey (1950-51)
Lou Tsioropoulos (1951, 1952-54)
Kenny Walker (1983-86)
Sean Woods (1990-92)
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 12:40 PM.
