Tubby Smith has Lots of Stories to Share in Memoir

Tubby Smith waved to UK fans in Rupp Arena during a reunion ceremony for his 1998 national championship team. (Vicky Graff Photo)

If Tubby Smith needed any convincing that he should publish his memoir, he quickly got it after the University Press of Kentucky announced the former Kentucky basketball coach planned to do so.

“I started getting calls from all over the world after the release went out. I didn’t even know they were going to do it and then it seemed like everybody was calling and asking me about the book,” said Smith.

The forthcoming memoir will be written with sports journalist Terence Moore, a 25-year veteran with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and author of The Real Hank Aaron: An Intimate Look at the Life and Legend of the Home Run King .”

“I had thought about something like this before and Terrence Moore, who used to live and work in Cincinnati, and I started talking. The people at Kentucky Press seemed excited and I said I would get back to them,” Smith said. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought why not.

“Maybe I will do a series of books on my life, schools where I worked and just coaching in general,” the former UK coach said. “I am still trying to decide how to break it down (the memoir will be released in 2025). It’s crazy how many stories I have. I have been at seven different Division I schools. I moved my family 14 times. I have got a lot to say.”

Smith, the sixth of 17 children in his family, spent 31 years as a NCAA Division I head coach at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Memphis and High Point. He was the first African-American head coach at UK and won the national title in 1998 as his first year as head coach. His teams won five SEC regular-season championships and five SEC Tournament titles in his 10 years. He is also one of only two head coaches to take five schools to the NCAA Tournament.

Smith still remembers some heart-breaking NCAA losses when he thought his team was good enough to win a national title again. “We lost to Michigan State in the Elite Eight and they won it. We lost to Maryland and they made the Final Four. We lost to Marquette when they had Dwayne Wade and Keith Bogans hurt his ankle for us. We had some close calls but I am sure Cal (John Calipari) felt the same way.”

Smith knows new Kentucky coach Mark Pope and likes what he has seen and hard.

“I think Mark Pope will do a great job. Get ready to write about him and what he’s going to do,” Smith said.

Smith returned to Lexington again in September when Jodie Meeks, one of his recruits, was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.

“I appreciated him saying in his (induction) speech that a bunch of coaches came to Georgia to recruit him and offer playing time, money and this and that but that coach Smith always told him he would have to earn his playing time,” Smith said. “He told me thank you for doing that and I appreciated that.”

When Smith left UK for Minnesota after Meeks’ sophomore season, the player wanted to transfer to Minnesota.

“I never took a player with me. I reminded  him that I told him in his home when I was recruiting him that I could drop dead tomorrow and to pick Kentucky not because of me but because someday that might be where you want to live and raise a family,” the former UK coach said. “Don’t pick Kentucky for me. I told every player that.

“The two best players in the history of Tulsa basketball wanted to follow me to Georgia. One was our leading scorer, the other was the leading rebounder but I left them there. At Georgia kids wanted to follow me to Kentucky but I told them to stay.

“I’ve got a lot of stories and memories like that and now I just have to figure out how to get them in some kind of order to make it fun for fans to read.”