Tubby Smith to be inducted into National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Tubby Smith is a Hall of Famer.
The former SEC coach was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He is joined in the 2026 class by fellow coaches Jay Wright and Ted Owens, BYU superstar Danny Ainge, Michigan’s Glen Rice and the late UCLA legend Walt Hazzard.
“The Class of 2026 represents the very best of college basketball – individuals whose performance, leadership and impact helped shape the game at the highest level,” Kevin Henderson, CEO of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, said in a released statement. “Their legacies will forever be preserved as part of the sport’s rich history.”
Welcome to the NABC Hall of Fame, Coach Tubby Smith.
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 13, 2026
📰🔗 https://t.co/fE8sV0MLUQ pic.twitter.com/sQKFW6wxXX
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Smith, who turned 75 in June, began coaching immediately after he played at High Point from 1969-73. After coaching two high school programs, Smith made the jump to coaching college basketball.
VCU was Smith’s first college assistant gig. He then had stops at South Carolina and Kentucky before taking his first head coaching job at Tulsa in 1991.
Georgia hired Smith as head coach in 1995. He led the Bulldogs for 2 seasons, taking UGA to the NCAA Tournament in 1996 and ’97. Georgia made the Sweet 16 in Smith’s first season.
Smith returned to Kentucky in 1997 as the new head coach of the Wildcats. UK won the national championship in 1998, Smith’s first season. Kentucky made the Big Dance in all 10 seasons of Smith’s tenure, going 263-83 overall and 120-40 in SEC play.
Highlights of Smith’s decorated UK tenure include 5 SEC regular-season championships and 5 tournament titles. Individually, Smith was named SEC Coach of the Year 3 times and picked up multiple national Coach of the Year honors for the 2003 season in which Kentucky went a prefect 16-0 in regular-season conference competition.
Smith resigned from Kentucky in 2007 after back-to-back finishes in the Round of 32. He continued coaching college basketball until 2022, with stops at Minnesota, Texas Tech, Memphis and High Point. Smith has a 642-369 record as a college basketball coach.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
