[NU Sports] Tubby Smith

[Joe Thiegs]

Of course I meant Roy Williams (blended with Dean Smith).

While we're on the subject of basketball coaches, some of you may have heard
the story about how John Wooden was about to accept the Minnesota job but
Mother Nature intervened to send him to UCLA instead.  For those who
haven't, here's one excerpt for discussion, from
http://coachlikeapro.tripod.com/basketball/id46.html 

"The Accidental Coach
By Chris Umpierre , Daily Bruin Contributor
 
The greatest assist in the history of the UCLA men's basketball program was
not made by Lucius Allen, Gail Goodrich or Tyus Edney. It was made by a
Minneapolis snowstorm in the winter of 1948. While the snowstorm paved the
way for a man named John Robert Wooden to sign with UCLA, it would not be
until 1950 that the future of Bruin basketball was secured.
 
In 1948, a snowstorm stopped Minnesota Athletic Director Frank McCormick
from getting to a phone and thus receiving Wooden's approval to coach at
Minnesota. "I had decided to take the Minnesota job," Wooden said in his
book, "They Call Me Coach." 
 
"As it was set up, McCormick was to call me for my answer (on an agreed
date) at 6 p.m. and (UCLA Athletic Director) Wilbur Johns would call at 7
p.m.," Wooden continued. "I didn't know of the (snowstorm) so when Johns
called, right on time, I accepted the UCLA job." Twenty-seven years later,
Wooden retired as one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. He
finished with an unprecedented 10 national championships and 885 wins. But
Wooden did not win a title during his first 16 years at UCLA and had to leap
over numerous obstacles during his early years in Westwood which almost made
him leave UCLA twice.
 
When Wooden first came to UCLA in 1948, he was greatly disappointed in what
he saw. UCLA not only did not have a campus arena (they played in a tiny gym
known as the B.O. Barn) but the players on the team were atrocious.  "I felt
that my former Indiana State team could have named the score against them,"
said Wooden, who had coached at Indiana State for two years before coming to
Westwood. In addition, Wooden did not feel comfortable living in Los
Angeles. "I was not at ease in Southern California," Wooden said in "The 25
Wooden Years." He was born and raised in Indiana.
 
"Frankly, I came from the farm and Los Angeles was frightening for me," he
added. All of this made Wooden ponder leaving UCLA before his Bruin coaching
career got off the ground. "Had I known how to abort the agreement in an
honorable manner, I would have done so and gone to Minnesota, or if that was
impossible, stayed on at Indiana State," Wooden said. But that is not the
kind of person John Wooden is. "I don't believe in quitting, so I resolved
to work hard, try to develop the talent on hand, and recruit like mad for
the next year," Wooden said."

Here's another excerpt, from
http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Wooden_John.html 

"In 1948, Wooden was faced with a major decision to make when he was offered
the head basketball job at both Minnesota and UCLA. He was prepared to
accept the Minnesota job - he liked the idea of remaining in the Midwest -
but a hitch briefly delayed the deal.

When Minnesota didn't call by a stipulated deadline, Wooden said yes to
UCLA. Minutes after the deadline, a Minnesota official called, explaining
that a snowstorm had caused him to be late calling because he couldn't get
to a phone. The Gophers still wanted Wooden. But he refused to break the
promise he had made to the Bruins minutes earlier.

"If fate had not intervened," Wooden said, "I would never have gone to
UCLA.""

-Joe


-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of Joe Thiegs
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 4:08 PM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Tubby Smith


Why else? Why else?!  So he could live and coach in Minnesota, of course!
:)   Many of us here could be making a lot more money on the coasts, or in
Chicago for that matter, but choose to stay in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the
Gopher State, the Land of Sky Blue Waters, Birthplace of the Mississippi,
Paul Bunyan Country, Lake Wobegon, L'Etoile du Nord, for the unbeatable
quality of life.  (I'm not positive, but I think Tubby had to compete with
Roy Smith, Coach K, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, and Billy Donovan for the Gophers
job.)

-Joe  (Lifelong Minnesotan Except for Four Years in Evanston)

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of Dennis W. Brandt
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 3:27 PM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Tubby Smith

Must be some pressure on Tubby the Tuba in Kentucky.  Why else would he make

such a switch?  (besides money) 

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