# Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith and Hire Richard Pitino



## cpawfan (Jun 20, 2004)

http://minnesota.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1487944



> Less than 24 hours after losing to Florida in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Tubby Smith has reportedly been fired by the University of Minnesota. The University of Minnesota has not confirmed the firing but CBS Sports Report Jeff Goodman reported the news earlier this morning.
> 
> In Tubby Smith's six years with the Gophers he took the team to three NCAA Tournaments picking up his first victory Friday night when they defeated UCLA. However, the Gophers best finish in the Big Ten under Smith was 6th and they were never able to get above .500 in the Big Ten.
> 
> Because of Gopher Athletic Director Norwood Teague's previous ties to VCU Head Coach Shaka Smart many believe that Smart could be the next Gopher coach. Others think the next coach could be former Gopher player and active alumnist Flip Saunders. Stay tuned to Gopher Illustrated and Rivals.com for continual updates.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

Fans are as delusional as ever about possible candidates too. Shaka Smart, LOL. Yes, I can see it now "Sorry UCLA, I'm going to Minnesota, a school without facilities"


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## BlueBaron (May 11, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

Tubby is a good coach. I thought he was a good fit for Minnesota. He'll find a job somewhere else pretty quick.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

I don't see who they can get that will put their program in a better place any time soon. Looks like a step backwards.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

I just can't seeing shaka going to Minnesota


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

Who does Minnesota think they are? Head scratching move to say the least.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*



hobojoe said:


> Who does Minnesota think they are? Head scratching move to say the least.


You have no idea. Gopherhole's first three names are Shaka Smart, Flip Saunders, and Buzz Williams. They have the worst facilities probably in all high major college basketball.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*



Nimreitz said:


> You have no idea. Gopherhole's first three names are Shaka Smart, Flip Saunders, and Buzz Williams. They have the worst facilities probably in all high major college basketball.


Good lord, i dont think they have a shot in hell at any of those guys, UCLA on the other hand..


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

They are so much worse of a job than Marquette and they have no idea.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*



Nimreitz said:


> They are so much worse of a job than Marquette and they have no idea.


Absolutely, Marquette doesnt get the credit they deserve, they are a top 20 team year in and year out and truthfully there are only a handful of schools (Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, Indiana for example) and those jobs aren't open that i feel would be a no brainer for Buzz to leave Marquette for. I dont know why so many people think of Marquette as a stepping stone program, there really arent alot of programs out there more consistant than Marquette and they play in an nba arena and have no football to compete with and a very wealthy alumni association.. Marquette is a damn good college job


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

You put together a good enough offer and I suppose you might get someone on that order, but if they have boosters ready to put up that sort of jack they should get them to put into facilities. This looks a lot like the big money boosters are calling the shots.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*



roux2dope said:


> Absolutely, Marquette doesnt get the credit they deserve, they are a top 20 team year in and year out and truthfully there are only a handful of schools (Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, Indiana for example) and those jobs aren't open that i feel would be a no brainer for Buzz to leave Marquette for. I dont know why so many people think of Marquette as a stepping stone program, there really arent alot of programs out there more consistant than Marquette and they play in an nba arena and have no football to compete with and a very wealthy alumni association.. Marquette is a damn good college job


Exactly. Then there's the fact that they probably have one of the nicest facilities in all of college basketball in the McGuire Center, an athletic department that revolves around the men's basketball program and pays the coach like it (and, if you listen to some naysayers, will go as far as covering up crimes by the players and accepting anyone into the school no matter how stupid), and a phenomenal history going back to Al McGuire. Also, Dwayne Wade is an enthusiastic alum and always stops by games when the Heat are in town. Minnesota has none of that stuff; basketball is even behind Hockey there.

Marquette fans are a little anxious about that UCLA opening though and to tell the truth, I would interview Buzz if I was UCLA along with Jay Wright and then of course the hot mid-major guys like Smart and Stevens. I'd throw out Dixon too, but they probably won't go back to the Pitt well after how this Howland thing ended.


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## Knick Killer (Jul 16, 2006)

I'm from up north so I can't say I know too much about universities facilities, but what makes Minnesota's so bad? 

And kinda strange that they would fire him and getting his first tournament win. It's not like they lost a game they shouldn't have, they knocked off a higher seed and then lost to Florida. Pretty respectable I'd say. 


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

They didn't lose a _Tournament_ game that they should have won, but they had a massive collapse in the conference season which has become Tubby's trademark at Minnesota. Started 15-1, finished 21-13. Last year they started 12-1 and were at 19-14 by the end of the conference tournament (NIT games padded their record at the end).

Williams Arena is about 100 years old and they don't have a practice facility. Trust me, this isn't like Duke where they practice in Cameron, but have tricked it out like crazy behind the scenes.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

Minny should've have thanked their lucky stars to have Tubby Smith. They will be bottom fishing the league again in 2 years.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

*Re: Source: Minnesota fires Tubby Smith*

they hired Richard Pitino..not a bad hire at all

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...golden-gophers-reach-agreement-richard-pitino


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

I think it's a terrible hire! Kid is where he is because of nepotism. All we know is that he's probably better than a totally checked out Isaiah Thomas.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

Nimreitz said:


> I think it's a terrible hire! Kid is where he is because of nepotism. All we know is that he's probably better than a totally checked out Isaiah Thomas.


Name recognition could go a long way in the recruiting process


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

I think he's going to get chewed up and spit out by all the veteran coaches in the Big Ten, and that awesome state 2014 class is about to get poached by Calipari and Roy.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

Like we have already discussed, Minnesota isn't a good enough program to get any good veteren coaches or any of the top mid major coaches, so poaching an assistant out of a program like Louisville is probably about as good as they could do. We will see if the name Pitino will be a an added bonus over time i guess.


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## Nimreitz (May 13, 2003)

He was at FIU last year and went 18-14. You can't just throw a kid like this to the wolves; he graduated college in 2005, how the hell is he going to be able to run a program like Minnesota. You need someone who's been around the block at least a little bit. Running a basketball program in the Big Ten is about more than coaching and recruiting. If they hired a long time Rick Pitino assistant, okay fair enough, but this seems desperate and ridiculous to me.


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## roux (Jun 20, 2006)

Nimreitz said:


> He was at FIU last year and went 18-14. You can't just throw a kid like this to the wolves; he graduated college in 2005, how the hell is he going to be able to run a program like Minnesota. You need someone who's been around the block at least a little bit. Running a basketball program in the Big Ten is about more than coaching and recruiting. If they hired a long time Rick Pitino assistant, okay fair enough, but this seems desperate and ridiculous to me.


you may be right


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## Mrs. Thang (Apr 14, 2011)

There is no way you can look at this as being anything but a backwards move. Northwestern got a better coach. That's pretty much all that needs to be said.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Well if it doesn't work, you might as well fire the AD. Good luck little Pitino, you're gonna need it. There is something to be said about the fact that he grew up around championship coaches his entire life (his dad and Billy Donovan). Hopefully some good info rubbed off on dude.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Im pretty certain some good info rubbed off on him, but that doesn't mean he's ready to jump into one of the best conferences in basketball and run the whole show. He'd probably to great at a mid major program...

However with all the unanimous shit talking he might turn out to be a fantastic coach, its just too bad that Minny doesn't have the program to even give him a shot. If Tubby could've had another 5 years the program might have been healthy enough for little Pitino to have a prayer. No Tubby, no chance.


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