[7], Smith began as assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University under his former High Point coach J. D. Barnett. The Smiths have three grandchildren, ages 5, 3and 5months old. With only eight scholarship student-athletes, none taller than 67, the staff molded the Cats into winners once again, exceeding expectations to record a 1414 mark. With only eight scholarship student-athletes, none taller than 67, the staff molded the Cats into winners once again, exceeding expectations to record a 1414 mark. "I feel blessed to have had an amazing career leading, coaching and teaching great young men at first-class institutions," Smith said in the statement. The turnaround was the biggest in the Big 12 with the Red Raiders completing a six-game improvement from the year prior in arguably the toughest conference in the country. Smith, who played for his father at the University of Georgia, was formerly the head coach at Loyola (Md),[9] and is currently the head coach at High Point. She is a secretary at the University of Memphis, where Tubby Smith is currently the head coach of mens basketball. Tubby Smith - Wikipedia Smith was hired as the new men's head coach of the University of Minnesota on March 22, 2007. High Point University will recognize alumni Tubby and Donna Smith by naming the basketball court in HPU's new Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center in their honor. Smith also had five double digit loss seasons (which led to his critics nicknaming him "Ten-Loss Tubby"), which caused the pressure to ramp up on him. Smith led the Wildcats to six Sweet Sixteen appearances (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005) and four Elite Eight appearances (1998, 1999, 2003, 2005) in his ten seasons. 15 seed. Together, they have one daughter, Megan Smith. He followed this with a three-year stint as the head coach at the University of Minnesota from 2007 to 2013. His passion on the court was unmatched and his enthusiasm to engage with HPU alumni and in the High Point community was amazing to experience. Smiths reasoning for leaving was to pursue other opportunities, stating I wanted to expand my horizons, find something new and build another program. Smith did come just a double overtime loss short of a Final Four appearance in 2005, losing to Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. Tubby Smith has announced he is stepping down as head coach of the High Point University men's basketball team. In the fall of 2000, Smith enrolled at the University of Kentucky for graduate school and joined his father's staff as a graduate assistant. The Maryland native also met his wife, Donna, while they were both students on campus. [12] In his first full season, Smith led High Point to a 14-17 record. Smith came under considerable pressure from many UK fans late in his tenure. At his college home at High Point University, he and his wife have provided the new locker rooms inside the James H. and Jesse E. Millis Athletic and Convocation .