University of Minnesota Athletics
Family Ties; Men's Basketball Assistant Coach Saul Smith
11/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Minnesota basketball fans might be curious to explore how young student-athletes might adjust to a coaching change in the middle of their collegiate career.
Even more interesting may be the notion of adjusting to the coaching style and schemes of a basketball icon like Tubby Smith. Throughout the offseason and beginning weeks of the 2007-08 season, Gopher players have been able to seek out assistant coach Saul Smith, who likely has the best idea of Tubby’s expectations than anyone else.
“As someone that has played for my dad and understands his system and what he’s looking for, I have a pretty good understanding of his style of coaching,” the younger Smith said.
Only six years removed from his own college career, Saul Smith offers a unique blend of coach and player for Gopher players who may be challenged while in the midst of an adjustment period. Smith, who was a part of the Wildcats’ 1998 national title team, was also integral in winning three SEC championships during his playing tenure at UK.
As the starting point guard during his junior and senior seasons at Kentucky, Smith led his team in assists in each of his last two years, and also led the team in steals as a senior. He ranks 10th all-time in the storied history of Kentucky basketball with 363 career assists. Smith then went on to compete for the Columbus Riverdragons of the NBDL for two seasons.
Smith got his first taste of coaching back at Kentucky, where he served as a graduate assistant under his father while finishing his degree in economics during the 2003-04 season. After spending three seasons as an assistant coach with Tennessee Tech of the Ohio Valley Conference, Smith was afforded the opportunity to coach at the Division I level when the elder Smith was hired by the U’ as head coach last March.
“I’m very excited to be coaching at this level, but I’m not satisfied with merely being here. The Big Ten atmosphere is fun, it’s competitive, and you come into packed arenas every night,” Smith said. “The opportunity to coach under a great coach not only my dad, but a great coach is a blessing also. There are lot of guys out there who would want to be in my position.”
During his collegiate career at Kentucky, Smith enjoyed much success playing for his dad as a guard in Kentucky’s aggressive, up-tempo system. Having been immersed in the up-tempo style of basketball that the Gophers are learning for the first time this season, Smith is a unique resource for the Minnesota players.
“As a guard, I have a pretty good understanding of how to play that position within the framework of Coach’s system. help lead our guards and familiarize them with Coach, his system, and how he wants them to play,” Smith said. “Playing for my father at Kentucky, we had pushed the ball and used our athleticism to try to get up and down the court. That system that worked to our strengths allowed us to be successful.”
Minnesota basketball fans have grown accustomed to a deliberate, half-court offensive strategy over the past couple years. This season, the Gopher coaching staff has implemented the same up-tempo strategy that Saul had so much success playing under at Kentucky for his dad.
In the opening game of the season, a suffocating defense and a full court press by Minnesota forced the Black Knights of Army into committing a staggering 25 turnovers. Those 25 turnovers led to 84 Minnesota points, a total that the 2006-07 Gophers did not exceed even once.
“We want to always put pressure of the basketball. If you do that, teams tend to turn the ball over and make bad decisions and take bad shots. When your opponent is forced into bad decision, you win games,” Smith said. “If you can constantly put pressure of the basketball, you’re going to be all right. If you’re going to let your opponent do what they want to do and dictate the pace of play, you’re going to struggle. That’s something we put a premium on is dictating the tempo.”
Finding players that fit into Minnesota’s new up-tempo, opportunistic system is also a challenge that the younger Smith and the rest of the Gopher coaching staff have taken head on. Putting in long hours soon after he was hired, Smith has helped garner a recruiting class this season that ranks among the best in the country.
“Coach [Ron] Jirsa and I really put a lot of work into studying our team and identifying what sort of players would work in our system when we came in this April,” Smith said. “The schools that we were competing with for the kids that we have committed were not sub-par programs. We were competing against schools like UCLA, Texas and Florida for some of these kids. I think we showed the kids that have committed that we really care about them.”
Smith and the rest of the Gopher coaching staff seem to be walking the walk when it comes to landing recruits and putting a product on the Williams Arena floor that Minnesota basketball fans can support.
“I’m really excited to work to make this a successful team and bring this program back to prominence,” Smith said.
story by Doug Vose, athletic communications student assistant
