Tubby says he is staying at Minnesota

ACC & Other30

A few quick hits this morning:

–Tubby says he is staying at Minnesota. But then what do you expect him to say publicly at this point?

And Smith rejected the ESPN rumor that Georgia Tech was going to buy out coach Paul Hewitt’s contract and hire Smith by saying: “Why would I be interested in that job? I’m not going anywhere. My wife likes it here, I like it here, and I’m going to finish my career here.”

A year ago the Gophers were slumping at the end of the season, going 4-4 in their final eight Big Ten conference games, but Smith points out they went to the finals of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Ohio State, which helped them secure a berth in the NCAA tournament.

And Smith is confident about the future of his team. The Gophers will lose only two seniors after this season, Blake Hoffarber and Al Nolen. They have two good redshirt freshmen in Elliott Eliason and Oto Osenieks. Maurice Walker will return after knee surgery this past season, and so will three freshmen who got good experience this year — Maverick Anhanmisi, Chip Armelin and Austin Hollins. And a good recruiting class is expected with the already signed Joe Coleman and Andre Hollins and two scholarships still available.

-GT may keep Paul Hewitt?

It must be noted, Tech officials have not said one way or another whether they plan to make a coaching move in the coming weeks or not. As has been his stance since last March, Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich has been sticking by Hewitt, affording him every opportunity to succeed. At season’s end — after the ACC, or possibly, NCAA tournament — the pair will sit down and discuss the future.
The Jackets are 13-17 overall following a 66-57 win over Miami on Sunday. The game was the last at Alexander Memorial Coliseum before a renovation project kicks off in the next 18 months. When the space reopens, it will have a new look and new name.

Because Tech will be forced to play at either the Gwinnett Center — 26 miles northeast of Tech’s midtown Atlanta campus — or Phillips Arena next season, some believe Radakovich may retain Hewitt’s services for one final season. It would be to avoid paying an approximately $7 million buyout to Hewitt, as well as allowing the program to wait on bringing in a new coach for when the Jackets open a new arena. For what has become an edgy fan, it could be a case of two splash hits at once.

For another reason Hewitt could survive, look no further than the team’s personnel. If junior guard Iman Shumpert decides to return next season instead of going pro, the Jackets would have an older, more experienced team full of battle-tested guards coming back. They could be a much better team

-Also, in case you missed it on Friday afternoon, then please take the time to read this entry and the linked article on Billy Donovan.

ACC & Other

30 Responses to Tubby says he is staying at Minnesota

  1. WilmyWolf 03/07/2011 at 10:46 AM #

    Both of these are good news for the pack. Tubby would have been B- hire at best, and the longer tech keeps Hewitt the fewer real competitors we have.

  2. Old MacDonald 03/07/2011 at 10:54 AM #

    I wonder if Tubby staying and GT keeping Hewitt could be related.

  3. JasonP 03/07/2011 at 10:56 AM #

    ^Kissin’ cousins, my friend.

    GT fans can wish all they want but Shumpert is gone.

  4. nav 03/07/2011 at 11:10 AM #

    This may be a stupid question but does anyone have any solid information that we definately will hire a new coach? We talk about it like it’s a done deal but I assume we’re just all hoping?

  5. jbpackfan 03/07/2011 at 11:13 AM #

    You won’t see any “solid information” that we are hiring a new coach until it’s announced. But it’s going to happen. I can’t divulge my sources but the new coach’s name rhymes with Dawn Diller.

    Just kidding of course.

  6. eas 03/07/2011 at 11:36 AM #

    Nav makes a good point about a new coach. It seems so obvious to most of the SFN followers and literally everyone you talk to outside of ncsu basketball (meaning water cooler talk with other ACC fans). However, you have to wonder if the powers that can actually make the change feel the same way. Empty seats and lost revenue should lock the thought in but do we really know?

    Furthermore, we have to wonder if the decision will be made after the ACC tourney or after the the NCAA tourney (for potential “dancing” coaching candidates).

    I am optimistic, worried and confused all at the same time…..

  7. Classof89 03/07/2011 at 11:37 AM #

    Re: GT’s facilities dilemma–is there nothing in Atlanta that’s an alternative to Phillips Arena without having to go way out to Gwinnett County? Where does Georgia State, Morehouse, etc. play basketball?

  8. Packfan28 03/07/2011 at 11:39 AM #

    Hell, at this point Dawn Diller would be an upgrade.

  9. Lunatic Fringe 03/07/2011 at 12:00 PM #

    GT does not have the same urgency/demand to remove their basketball coach this year. The financials, this year anyway, just make it a little easier for AD to rationalize keeping him around for 1 more year.

    GT fans want to beat UGA in football…THAT is what matters most.

  10. Wolfy__79 03/07/2011 at 12:04 PM #

    this dawn diller person sounds promising, what’s his/her resume like 🙂

    good for tubrock. that would be the honorable thing to do, well to me anyway.

    yow is here to straighten things out. honestly, i hope she’s got people in mind that we haven’t even discussed.. down deep, i feel we need make the somewhat promising unknown hire and rebuild the next generation. i like the conversation of big names and wouldn’t turn away many of them. it’s worth the money for the big dogs but there are boundaries there too! i want to see a coach that can outsmart k and roy.. it’s okay to not beat them right off the bat (well i might be able to stomach that).

    there is no mystery to me on making a hire! we are not only hiring a new coach but rebuilding a competitive professional atmoshpere. i commend sidney for keeping the wheels on to finish up but again there’s no mystery at all.

  11. Alpha Wolf 03/07/2011 at 12:08 PM #

    I can’t understand why you folks aren’t fired up to bring in Phil Ford.

  12. HPWolf 03/07/2011 at 12:10 PM #

    Wolfpack Nation, I have solid inside information that Lowe is gone. I do not however have any info on who the next coach will be. It is my understnading that that part is still to be determined.

    All I know is its about damn time. Sidny Lowe has sucked the life out of NCSU basketball and the fan base at the same time. Not one quality win this year. 7 wins on the road in the ACC in 5 years. A 39 point humiliation on National TV. Total irreverence in ACC and national basketball.
    The only ACC team to ever lose to EZU. EVER! 10 straight losses to Chapil Cheat and Roy f**king wilhole. I could go on but it would take all day to cover the reasons why we should move on. Anyone still on the sid bandwagon has to be a UNC mole. BTW, carolina and duke love sid.

  13. Alpha Wolf 03/07/2011 at 12:23 PM #

    ^ Alrighty then. I wonder what benefit the light blues get from having moles support Sid?

  14. Wulfpack 03/07/2011 at 12:25 PM #

    Pat Knight was just fired at Texas Tech. Let it begin…

  15. HPWolf 03/07/2011 at 12:32 PM #

    Alpha I was half joking about the UNC moles. The sid supporters may or may not be UNC fans. We have however became the team that others look at in the preseason and chalk up a win to. UNC fans are right when they say we are not their rivals anymore (in basketball). We would have to beat them at least once in awhile to be rivals. it kills me to see how far we have fallen. Any change at this point has to at least give us some hope for next season and the future.

  16. sautz 03/07/2011 at 12:39 PM #

    ^^ I would imagine Texas Tech would take a hard look at Gillespie. He can do great things in Texas.

  17. TomCat 03/07/2011 at 12:45 PM #

    I hear Phil Jackson is coming available, how about him?… or Rick Pitino. He already has the white silk suits and red ties. —- Right? —— SERIOUSLY: If Tubby stays in Minny, good luck to him. If he is available…. wow, a proven teacher, recruiter and incredible person, we better JUMP at the chance. Huge upgrade. Someone above mentioned Tubby Smith as a “B” candidate… ridiculous. What we need here is a PROVEN coach and some consistency to KEEP this young nucleus together and build a foundation to move this program back on the right track to long term excellence. 28 year old proven, “sure thing” head coaches don’t grow on trees. There IS no shortcut to getting this on the right track. Tubby could handle the transition, he will recruit, he will teach and he will win. And– when he’s ready to retire there is an orderly transition. THINK BIG PICTURE. Doesn’t happen overnight. If we stay on the carousel of hiring and firing… will equal doom to this program for the long run. We are getting to the point where the kids playing today weren’t EVEN BORN the last time NC State made serious noise in the national scene. Time to get FOCUSED and get ON IT with a GOOD PROVEN HIRE. Get things on track.

  18. PoppaJohn 03/07/2011 at 2:30 PM #

    Tomcat – Understand your opinion, but respectfully disagree. By your own description, Tubby is a transitional coach. He’d start here and we’d be wondering how long before he’d retire. Any disappointing season and we’d be wondering, “Did that push him over the edge? Is he going to retire?” And when he does, we’re right here again.

    I don’t want to give up on the idea of finding that rising (or current) star that will come in and rebuild the program and keep it at a high level. Let’s at least exhaust that possiblity before going to our fallback position. (not that Tubby is even available)

    In my mind, this is the proof (or dis-proof) of what we have been saying all along. Is this a desirable job? If it is, and Yow is as good as we think, then this coaching search will turn out very well. If Yow isn’t up to the task, or we aren’t as desirable as we think – then we are going to be disappointed.

  19. bradleyb123 03/07/2011 at 2:33 PM #

    Until he has a contract in front of him to sign, he’s the Minnesota coach. This is exactly what he SHOULD say. Coaches are always staying with their current teams…… right up until the point that they are not.

  20. Pack84 03/07/2011 at 3:15 PM #

    “Hell, at this point Dawn Diller would be an upgrade.”

    Hell – at this point PHYLLIS Diller would be an upgrade.

  21. triadwolf 03/07/2011 at 3:22 PM #

    ^Bingo!!!

    Everthing a coach says regarding his current situation or a future situation needs to be taken with a grain of salt. These types of statements don’t mean anything until contracts are signed and/or every open/about to be open position has been filled.

    Probably 85% of the information available is misinformation or just filler at best. There’s only two statements I care about or will have any faith in and both will come at NCSU press conferences (perhaps they’ll be consolidated into one presser).

  22. novawolf 03/07/2011 at 3:23 PM #

    Respectively agree with PoppaJohn…don’t think a coach at the end of his career is the desired end state for us. We should be looking for that rising (or current) star. We don’t want to be doing this again in 5 years, which is almost a certainty with Tubby, and will also coincide with a similar search by the blues. When the blues are searching, we want our guy established and on his way. If our AD is as good as we think, she does not need 30 years of experience to tell her someone is good. This is the kind of tough decision she was hired to make.

  23. 98Pack 03/07/2011 at 4:14 PM #

    We should know something about Hewitt by March 15. His contract will automatically roll over on April 15th, and he has a clause that states that he must be given one month’s notice if he will not be retained.

  24. TomCat 03/07/2011 at 5:26 PM #

    What basis is Tubby Smith at the end of his career? Seems to be doing darn good with less resources. We need exactly…. what a Tubby Smith would bring to NC State. We need to keep this talented roster together. Can’t live through an implosion again. We need fundamentals, teaching, development, we need winning results. There is no— perfect plan. Selling our soul to Bruce Pearl-type isn’t going to happen. In a cupcake world we would find the perfect 28 year old super stud coach ready to run NC State. I would MUCH rather sell a WINNING program under Tubby Smith to the next long term coach— than trying to sell the losing brand of basketball we have currently to a much risker set of coaching choices. Smoke on it.

  25. novawolf 03/07/2011 at 7:26 PM #

    Regards TomCat’s question on end of career, Tubby was born in 1951. Thus he will be 60 at some point this year. That could qualify as “close to the end of his career” to some of us.

    Agree with TomCat on “what a Tubby Smith would bring”. However, Tubby is not the only person that possesses those traits. 365 days ago if the names Brownell and Donahue had been brought up most on our fan base would say “who” or “no way”. Today, you bring up those names we say “hmmm, those were good hires”. Clemson and BC appear to have done their due diligence and been rewarded with good coaches. N.C. State is a better basketball school than either of those. If we make an even hire, we will achieve better results than those two. If we hire a better coach than those, we’ll come out with even better results.

    Our options are not Tubby Smith or failure, and hope we don’t get hung up on that case. To me, our options in a nutshell would appear to be (1) chase for a name coach, Tubby/Rick Barnes/Whoever and throw money at the problem (aka the Fowler approach) or (2) do a substantial and professional search and negotiate with what are determined to be the best viable candidates, which appears to be Clemson and BC, and even Virginia did. I hope that DY utilizes option 2.

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