High Point University Athletics Hall of Famer Tubby Smith came home in March 2018 to become the 12th men's basketball head coach in program history. The former all-conference guard came back to his alma mater after serving as the head coach at Memphis for two seasons. Smith coached at High Point for four seasons before resigning on February 16, 2022.

Smith coached Kentucky to the 1998 national championship and is one of two head coaches to guide five different programs to the NCAA Division I Tournament (Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas Tech).

Smith was named National Coach of the Year three times (2003, 2005, 2016), conference coach of the year six times (1994, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2016), and was honored with the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2016. In 2000, Smith was an assistant coach on Rudy Tomjanovich’s staff that led the United States to Olympic gold.

Smith made 20 postseason appearances as a head coach, including nine Sweet Sixteen and four Elite Eight trips. He mentored 18 student-athletes who have gone on to play in the NBA, including 13 NBA draft picks. In 27 seasons at six schools, Smith amassed a combined record of 597-302 (.664).

Smith started his coaching career at his high school alma mater Great Mills High School before moving to Hoke County High School in Raeford, N.C. He had three assistant coach stops at VCU, South Carolina and Kentucky before earning his first Division I head coaching job at Tulsa in 1991.

Smith led Tulsa to a pair of Sweet Sixteen appearances in 1994 and 1995 before moving to Georgia where he accumulated a 45-19 record in two seasons. In 1997, Smith returned to Kentucky, this time as the head coach, and led the Wildcats to the 1998 national championship. He secured a 262-83 record with five Sweet Sixteen trips and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances in 10 seasons.

Additionally, Smith was the head coach at Minnesota for six seasons and turned around a fledgling program at Texas Tech in three seasons before moving to Memphis in 2016.

The former Panther standout was inducted into the High Point University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016; earlier, in 2013, Smith had been inducted into the University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.

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