Kentucky basketball to retire jersey in honor of Tubby Smith during game vs. High Point in December

The Kentucky basketball program will retire a jersey within the honor of Tubby Smith in December, this system introduced on Tuesday. Smith, the legendary former UK coach, led this system to a 263-83 document in 10 seasons and gained a nationwide championship with the crew in 1998. A ceremony shall be held Dec. 31 when Smith’s High Point crew faces Kentucky in Lexington.

Smith was inducted into the UK Athletics Corridor of Fame in 2013, however he was not eligible for jersey retirement till 2018. He shall be simply the forty fourth retired jersey to hold within the rafters at Rupp Area alongside fellow nationwide championship coaches Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Corridor and Rick Pitino.

“That is very humbling,” Smith mentioned on a Zoom name when knowledgeable by UK of his jersey retirement. “I am definitely grateful to have had the chance to guide that program. Some fantastic individuals there, fantastic followers. You’ll be able to’t discover higher individuals. They’ve a ardour for the sport, not simply basketball however for the Wildcats, interval. Thanks for doing that. We’re wanting ahead to it.”

In his 10 seasons with Kentucky, Smith coached the crew to at the very least 22 wins in every season. In that span, the Wildcats gained 5 regular-season SEC titles, 5 SEC Event titles and by no means missed the NCAA Tournament. 

“Tubby and I’ve been mates for years,” John Calipari mentioned. “He’s so deserving of this honor. He gained huge right here and he did it with class. Tubby impacted so many individuals in and round this program and he’s beloved by the gamers who performed for him and by this fan base. I am unable to wait to see his banner raised.”

Smith has coached at Minnesota, Texas Tech, Memphis and most not too long ago at Excessive Level since his tenure at Kentucky got here to an finish in 2007. He has been the Excessive Level coach since 2018.