CBS says UMN head basketball coach Tubby Smith fired

The crux, as written up by CBS:

Smith, who has spent the past six seasons with the Gophers, was fired on Monday afternoon, sources told CBSSports.com. His tenure ends with a 124-81 overall mark and a 46-62 record in Big Ten play.

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About the blogger

Alex Friedrich

afriedrich@mpr.org

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.

Van Hayden

Oh, what short memories we Minnesotans have and what lofty ambitions. How quick we are to forget the roundball nadir of former Coach Dan Monson’s regime that preceded Orlando “Tubby” Smith’s arrival at The Barn. Smith took an 8-win also-ran and transformed it into a 20-win season in his first year. Smith made Minnesota Basketball relevant nationally. Smith is the first Gopher B-Ball coach to register 3 20-or-more-win seasons and 3 trips to The Dance. Last year, Smith’s team fought it’s way to the championship round of The NIT, even after losing it’s best player in Trevor Mbakwe. His program graduated student-athletes and avoided the scandals that came to define U sports, under Clem Haskins and others. Yes, Smith’s teams have not achieved a Big 10 Championship and frustratingly stumbled against several lower-ranked teams. But this year alone, credit Smith for beating #1-ranked Indiana, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Memphis, Stanford and UCLA. Coach Smith, you will be missed.