Kenny Brooks considered Tubby Smith a "mythical figure." (Vicky Graff Photo)
Big Blue Madness was “already a heck of a day” for Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks when it got even better thanks to former UK men’s coach Tubby Smith.
“I got to sit on a panel with Tubby Smith, and we got to talk about so many things,” Brooks said Tuesday at UK’s Media Day. “I talked to Tubby behind the scenes. We shared stories and the similarities in our lives and what we wanted. I could have done that all day, and that was probably the highlight of the day for me.”
Brooks sounded like a UK fan the way he was gushing over Smith, who led Kentucky to the 1998 national championship. Smith also was a one-time assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth and that’s where Brooks first started following his career.
Brooks made it clear Smith was the one coach who had a huge impact on his career.
“I have a relationship with Tubby Smith and you’re not taking that away from me,” Brooks said Tuesday. “It’s something that is special to me because he was somebody that I looked up to. There weren’t very many African-American coaches that you could say, ‘Hey, I want to be like that.’ Obviously, (former Georgetown coach) John Thompson was a huge figure, but Tubby and Tubby’s journey, it was long.
“He had to wait his turn. He’s just somebody that I’ve always admired, and not only because of his coaching prowess, but from everything that I’ve ever heard about him is that he’s a gentleman, and everyone loves Tubby.
“He was a mythical figure to me for a very long time. Coming here in a year span, I got to meet coach Cal, I got to meet Rick Pitino, who are tremendous, tremendous coaches. But when Tubby came in, it was a little different.
“I wanted to make sure I tucked my shirt in and did everything right. Just getting to know him and sitting down and talking with him and having his number … those are things that are very, very special to me because he inspired me. I just hope that I can be like that to someone someday.”
Brooks said swapping stories with Smith and discussing how they grew up was “so much fun” at Big Blue Madness.
“I met him at a golf course one time, but then at Big Blue madness when we brought him back, that’s something that I’ll always remember,” Brooks said. And just trying to be like that. If I could be half of the coach he was, then I think I would have a really good career.”
