Kentucky's Smith To Become Minnesota Coach

MINNEAPOLIS — Kentucky's Tubby Smith will be the University of Minnesota's new basketball coach, a Minnesota school official said yesterday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Minnesota had not yet announced the hire. A news conference was scheduled for noon CDT on Friday.

Smith met with Kentucky players earlier yesterday, said basketball spokesman Scott Stricklin. He said he didn't know what Smith told the players and had no further comment.

The news was first reported by ESPN.comand SI.com.

The Wildcats went 22–12 this season and made it to the NCAA tournament, but lost to top-seeded Kansas in the second round, turning up the heat on their coach.

Smith led Kentucky to the national championship in his first season in 1998, but the Wildcats haven't been back to the Final Four since, their longest drought since the NCAA tournament began. The team has lost 10 or more games in a season five times under his watch, prompting the demanding fan base to nickname him "10-loss Tubby."

"In our league, we have passionate fans that want to see success," said SEC commissioner Mike Slive about the expectations at Kentucky.

The criticism ramped up this season when the proud program struggled against top competition, losing handily to Memphis, North Carolina, and Florida. Smith entered the tournament on shaky ground, and his status wasn't helped when the Wildcats failed to make it out of the first weekend for the third time in four seasons.

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart gave Smith a vote of confidence before the tournament began. After the loss to the Jayhawks, Smith said he anticipated returning to Lexington for an 11th season.

"Tubby's a great credit to basketball and a great credit to the game," Slive said.

Smith's trading one tenuous situation for another.

Minnesota was 9–22 this season, the most losses in the 111-year history of the program and averaged just 60.6 points a game, its lowest output in 56 years.