Former UK coach Tubby Smith with CatsPause' founder Oscar Combs, left, and former UK Radio Network personality Ralph Hacker
After news broke Tuesday that former Kentucky men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith was part of the 2026 College Basketball Hall of Fame class, I reached out to congratulate Smith.
Obviously I knew Smith was likely being bombarded by calls/text messages/emails from former players, fans, friends, coaches and others because who doesn’t like Tubby Smith.
Smith coached the Wildcats to the UKs seventh national championship in his inaugural season in 1998, winning 35 games on his way to the title with the “Comeback Cats” who had to overcome three straight double-digit halftime deficits — including being down 17 points to Duke in the NCAA regional final.
It was a remarkable coaching job following what Rick Pitino had done at UK when he won the 1996 national title and lost in the 1997 title game to Arizona before heading to the NBA.
Smith responded to my message — just as he always has done any time I have reached out to him since he left Kentucky in 2008.
“I am truly blessed and honored to be selected for the College Basketball Hall of Fame,” Smith said.
Then, as he always does, he added this, “Be well my friend.”
That’s what makes Smith special. He cared about everyone and never was too busy for anyone.
He led UK to 22 or more victories in all 10 of his seasons at Kentucky 1998-2007. He won five Southeastern Conference regular season crowns and five SEC Tournament championships. He never made another Final Four after winning the national title in 1998 but he certainly had teams that came close. I still believe UK would have won the 2003 national title if Keith Bogans, the SEC Player of the Year and UK’s leading scorer, had not severely sprained his ankle before a NCAA regional final loss to Marquette.
Former Centre College men’s basketball coach Greg Mason was a huge Smith fan.
“Congratulations to Coach Tubby Smith on being named to the College Basketball Hall of Fame today. In my 30 years in College Athletics, I haven’t met a more genuine, humble and generous coach. And he could coach some defense,” Mason posted on social media in the perfect tribute to Smith.
Even opponents appreciated and respected Smith. Former Tennessee star Ron Slay competed against Smith’s teams for four years. He’s now a SEC Network analyst.
“Much more than just a legendary coach …….. A great man and I never bounced a ball for him!!! Huge Salute to Coach Tubby Smith!!!” Slay posted on X.
Media members did not always agree with Smith and would at times criticize him. He never took it personal or held grudges.
“Few hoops coaches I enjoyed covering and getting to know more than Tubby. Well done,” On3 senior analyst Chris Low posted on X.
Smith was head coach at seven schools: Tulsa (1992-95), Georgia (1996-97), Kentucky (1998-2007), Minnesota (2008-13), Texas Tech (2014-16), Memphis (2017-18), High Point (2019-22). He had a career record of 642-370 and swept national coach of the year honors in 2003.
During his 10 seasons at Kentucky, Smith amassed a 263-83 record, leading the Wildcats to four Elite Eight appearances and 10 NCAA Tournament berths.
Perhaps Smith’s most impressive accomplishment is that he led five different programs to the NCAA Tournament.
Smith is joined in the class by fellow coaches Jay Wright and Ted Owens, BYU superstar Danny Ainge, Michigan’s Glen Rice and the late UCLA legend Walt Hazzard. The Hall of Fame class will be formally enshrined during the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Celebration at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Missouri.
“The Class of 2026 represents the very best of college basketball – individuals whose performance, leadership and impact helped shape the game at the highest level,” said Kevin Henderson, CEO of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. “Their legacies will forever be preserved as part of the sport’s rich history.”
And no one deserves to be loved and cherished more than Tubby Smith.
6 Responses
Being one of 17 kids will certainly make you learn to be humble and wait your turn. I loved how Tubby continued to take care of his parents even when he was busy coaching. He truly has a love for others, no matter how important or famous he is. Says a lot about a man.
Great points OldFanX
Tubby was a good coach. He was also a good man, unlike another coach UK had that fans love so much. Tubby had top ranked recruits that suddenly died before getting on campus and other weird recruiting circumstances that didn't help him at Ky. I'm very happy for a deserving man.
He really was a good man Jimmy
I was born in 83 and my first real memories were when Eddie Sutton was at Kentucky. My first life memory was watching Rex Chapman go off against Louisville. I'm from Louisville so it meant even more to me because all day me and other kids would argue over Kentucky and Louisville. My grandma was a Louisville fan but my dad was raised by him and didn't like him and he was Kentucky fan. Tubby came in at a crazy time and my true belief to this day is Rick didn't think he would do that much with 98 team so it was the perfect time to leave. People forget how Rick was waiting for the next big thing to jump on and Tubby came here being the nice guy he is and taught that 98 team how to be humble. The 5 years before they were kinda cocky. That 98 team was humble and yea Rick did recruit 75% of the team but I don't know if that team would have won the championship in 98 without Tubby. He also brought in Rajon Rondo. He wasnt a bad recruiter but he went after real college players not guys he thought would jump to the NBA after a year or two. Rondo was a childhood friend of mine. We played at Doss youth league I was on the 10-12 year old league and he was on the 8-9 year old league. So we played 2 years practicing on the same practice field at different ends of Doss field. My sister went to Doss with Derek Anderson. I remember Rondo was super athletic then but he didn't like the contact of football and would cry not to play but his momma would yell at him get your butt in there and quit being scared lol.
Special person.
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