University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Reaches Contract Agreement with Tubby Smith
12/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
University of Minnesota Athletics Director Joel Maturi announced today that the University and Gopher men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith have agreed to terms on a seven-year contract.
We are thrilled to announce that we have finalized a long-term agreement with Coach Smith,” Maturi said. “We have already witnessed tremendous growth in the men’s basketball program in the short time Coach Smith has been at the U and we have high expectations for the program in years to come. I want to thank Coach Smith’s lawyer Ricky Lefft and University of Minnesota’s General Counsel Mark Rotenberg for their efforts in finalizing the agreement.”
Smith came to Minnesota after having spent the past 10 seasons (1997-2007) as the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. During his tenure at Kentucky, Smith led the Wildcats to the 1998 national championship, four “Elite Eight” appearances, five Southeastern Conference titles, five SEC Tournament titles and six “Sweet Sixteen” appearances.
“It is a good feeling to finally have the contract signed,” said Smith. “We are really excited about the challenges that lie ahead of us and are equally excited to build the Golden Gopher basketball program to national prominence.”
Coach Smith has the Gophers off to a 6-1 start in 2007-08, having defeated Army, Iowa State, Central Michigan, UC Riverside, North Dakota State and Colorado State by an average of 18.8 points per game, which is the second-largest victory margin in the Big Ten Conference. Coach Smith brought with him a style of play that stressed defense and an up-tempo offense and that has been apparent thus far as the Gophers are currently second in the conference in scoring offense at 77.7 points per game and fourth in the conference in scoring defense, giving up an average of 58.9 points per game.
The Gophers return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 12, as they host South Dakota State at Williams Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Season and single-game tickets remain available by calling the Gopher Ticket Office at 612-624-8080 or 1-800-U-GOPHER. Tickets may also be purchased online at gophersports.com.
