A few posts down, I gave frequent Gopherhole.com commenter "Friend of Tubby" considerable space to convince readers that Tubby Smith is the answer Gopher fans have been waiting for.
I was shocked when the news arrived that Joel Maturi had hired Tubby Smith. For the first time in probably 10 years, my interest in Gophers basketball rose. During that decade, Dan Monson took a once proud progam and turned it into a laughingstock. So, Is Tubby the answer?
I won't fight with the statistics that "FOT" rattles off. And I won't fall into the trap of believing everything some rabid Kentucky fans say to slight their former coach. But I will make a few points, which highlight my reservations with the hire.
** First, this is likely Tubby Smith's last job, unless he's planning to use this gig as a jumping off point for another big-time program. But it would seem Tubby is tired of the spotlight and could get comfortable in Minnesota. So, how long does he want to stick around? At 55, turning 56 on June 30, it might be a stretch to think Tubby will be around 10 years. In my opinion, it will take him at least three years to change the direction of the Gophers program. Does he have the stamina? He's won his national title. Does the fire still burn? Does he have the energy for another rebuilding project?
** Recruiting: The one area where I think Kentucky fans have a legitmate point. But it's not as if Tubby Smith was landing Dan Monson-like recruiting classes. So, for us, recruiting should improve. But just a few months in, one of the knocks on Tubby in Kentucky may be showing up in Minnesota.
Let's take Stan Simpson as an example. In a Rivals.com article, it states that Simpson, as of June 7, was only starting to hear from Minnesota. The article states: "Simpson is just now starting to hear from the Gophers staff who has only been together for a couple of months." Maybe that was just a throw away line that didn't mean anything. But it tells me that the Gophers were late in talking to Simpson. This is the #24 power forward in the country, and a top 100 recruit. But it took Tubby's staff two months to start knocking on his door/text messaging him.
That anecdote by itself means little. But the one point Kentucky detractors make that I buy is that Tubby's passion isn't recruiting. For balance, I should point out that Tubby was on the Ralph Sampson bandwagon before the rest of the country. According to this Rivals.com article on Sampson, the Gophers and Tubby, along with Georgia Tech, were after Sampson before the rest of the country. Now, according to Rivals, Sampson's stock is rising. Tubby was there first. He needs to bring the product home.
This section on recruitment goes to show that Gopher fans shouldn't completely dismiss what Tubby's Kentucky detractors said about his recruiting abilities. At the same time, at the very least, we should see a better caliber player coming to Minnesota. Only time will tell whether Tubby has the stamina and desire to get the best of the best year after year.
** Gophers football coach Tim Brewster has wowed Gopher Nation with his enthusiasm. We didn't need a "Rah, Rah, Ski U Mah" from Tubby to excited about his hire. He's quoted as saying he wants to be here and feels wanted in Minnesota. As Minnesota fans, we wanted Tubby. But does he really want to be in marron and gold? Tubby's decision to come to Minnesota, in my opinion, was made abrubtly as a way to escape Kentucky.
I can't argue with the name value Tubby brings. But would the men's basketball program be better off with someone whose reason for coming here was to win first, not escape a hotstile situation?
In the end, I'm completely excited about Tubby. He's a class-act, and is well-respected throughout the game. And I beleve the program will be much better off as a result of his hire. But, was hiring an aging coach who wanted out of Kentucky more than he wanted to be at the U the best we could have done? You tell me. Clearly, I'm somewhat on the fence.
This site has been Tubby-centric the past week, culminating with a Chubby 4 Tubby conversation yesterday. In the next couple days, I'll review the camp Tim Brewster held this week for high schoolers, and continue my series on new assistant coaches with a look at defensive coordinator Everett Withers.
