The coach met with his players Thursday to inform them of the situation.
Tubby Smith, 55, has drawn plenty of criticism in Lexington despite
consistently getting the team into the NCAA tournament.
The fact of the matter is that Smith and his staff hadn't recruited big-time
players and weren't living up to the expectations placed on him. According to
numerous sources, Smith was given an ultimatum — to fire his staff or be
fired.
The loyal Smith opted to leave Kentucky and will be introduced as the new
Minnesota head coach, replacing Dan Monson, in the next 48 hours.
Smith took over for Rick Pitino in 1997 and won a national title in his first
season at the helm. He has been in Lexington for 10 years, won at least 20 games
each season and went to the Elite Eight in 2005.
The Wildcats were 22-12 this past season and lost in the second round of the
NCAA tournament to top-seeded Kansas. He leaves with a career record of 263-83.
However, it wasn't enough.
Smith was signing mid-major players recently and the talent level and lack of
championships wasn't what fans in the Bluegrass State were used to.
Kentucky will go after a big-name coach. Florida's Billy Donovan will
certainly be pursued, but other guys who will be mentioned for one of the most
attractive jobs in America are Villanova's Jay Wright, Marquette's Tom Crean,
Memphis' John Calipari, Texas' Rick Barnes, Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie and
Ohio State's Thad Matta.