Minnesota Golden Gophers Fire Head Coach Tubby Smith

According to a number of various reports, Minnesota has fired head men’s basketball coach, Tubby Smith.

Smith had been the subject of rumors and a potential dismissal for a number of months now and after six years at the university, that decision was made official.

In Smith’s six years at Minnesota, he was 124-81 and had led the Golden Gophers to three NCAA Tournament appearances in that span. Despite the ongoing rumors and a No. 11 seed within the Big Dance here in 2013, Smith helped the Gophers get past No. 6 UCLA last Friday, but Minnesota then fell short to No. 3 Florida in the Round of 32 on Sunday.

Minnesota didn’t waste any time in making a decision, firing Smith less than 24 hours after their elimination.

In all, Smith led Minnesota to five postseason appearances, including two showings in the NIT Tournament.

It will be interesting to see where Minnesota goes from here for a replacement and if any other school will automatically be interested in Smith’s services. Prior to taking over the Minnesota program before the 2007-08 season, Smith had spent ten seasons at Kentucky, winning a national championship in first season in Lexington.

Smith has always been in charge of competitive teams, but the turnaround for Minnesota was obviously not quick enough despite the three NCAA Tournament appearances over the course of the past six seasons.

In his career, Smith is one of the more winningest active coaches in the country, tallying 511 wins thus far in his coaching career. He has a 69.3% winning percentage in that time.

We will see if Minnesota can find the coach that can take them to the next level, which exactly what they are looking for.

 

Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS