Tubby Smith was initially surprised when John Calipari called to ask if there was interest in a High Point-Kentucky game this coming season.
“We were in Puerto Rico with our team,” Smith said. “My first thought was: you haven’t finished your schedule yet?”
It was the first week of August. High Point was in Puerto Rico to play exhibition games.
Smith had already scheduled non-conference games at Northwestern, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
Even though High Point had already scheduled so-called “buy games” to augment High Point’s athletics budget, Smith was interested. In fact, so much so that he called Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo to see about finding a new date for that game.
Of the game at Kentucky on Dec. 31, Smith said, “We had to kind of wedge it in, squeeze it in.”
High Point will play at Michigan State on Dec. 28, then bus six hours to Lexington to play Kentucky.
“The players are excited and looking forward to it,” Smith said before adding with a chuckle, “I don’t know how excited I am. Nobody wants to go to Rupp Arena. That ain’t the place you want to go when you’re trying to build. We need a good record this year.”
High Point’s record the last two seasons is 18-38. Smith said he expects to have “one of the best teams we’ve had here in a while” even though sophomore guard Ahmil Flowers, who made the Big South All-Freshman team last season, sustained a serious knee injury in June.
“We’re not in a class with the Wildcats or the other Power Five schools,” Smith said. “But we’ll be competitive at our level.”
If Smith gets “the wonderful reception” he anticipates in Rupp Arena, the feeling will be mutual.
“I know what Kentucky has meant to me,” he said. “It has certainly solidified my future.”
Smith’s coaching career includes 12 years at Kentucky: Two as an assistant for Rick Pitino and 10 as head coach.
“That’s the longest time I’ve lived anywhere other than when I grew up in southern Maryland,” he said. “So, for me and my family, Kentucky would be considered home.”
One son, Saul Smith, played for Kentucky. Another son, G.G. Smith, earned a master’s degree at UK and now is associate coach at High Point. The youngest son, Brian Smith, spent a good bit of his childhood in Kentucky.
When asked if his wife, Donna Smith, would make the trip to Lexington, Smith said, “Oh yeah. She wouldn’t miss it. She has so many friends (in Kentucky). Her commitment to the community was outstanding as well. It’s always been a family affair to us.”
The Kentucky ties endure. Smith said he stays in contact with Dudley Webb, Luther Deaton, Lois Florence (wife of the late Van Florence) and the family of the late Bill Keightley.
Smith said he still makes donations to charities at each of the stops in his coaching career.
High Point’s game at Kentucky will mark the first time Smith has been in Rupp Arena since leaving as UK coach in 2007.
When asked what Kentucky memories are most vivid, he said, “Just every game. I can’t explain it to people. When you walk out of that tunnel and there’s 20,000 people at every game, that doesn’t happen anywhere else in America.”
Fans First
The early preview of the 2021-22 Kentucky team next Saturday will be heavy on preview and light on Kentucky.
The rules governing the name, image and likeness event will require players not to wear UK attire. Greg Lazaroff, a spokesman for the sponsoring Pro Camps, said players will be provided T-shirts and shorts. To help fans identify who’s who, player names will be on the back of the shirts.
One other quirk involves transfer “big” Oscar Tshiebwe, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A caveat within the visa program prevents anyone on a student visa from earning a substantial income while studying in the United States.
Since the NIL is a profit-making event, Tshiebwe is not mentioned in promotional materials and may only participate as an unpaid volunteer, Lazaroff said.
The Fans First Fan Fest will be at Transylvania’s Clive M. Beck Center. The doors open at 6 p.m. The event begins at 7.
Celebrity guests will serve as judges of the dunk and three-point shooting competitions.
Available tickets range in price from $29, $49 and $159. The $15 tickets are sold out. Tickets are available at FansFirstFanFest.com.
Vandy overlooked?
Four of the five SEC teams that Kentucky will play home-and-home next season finished among the top five in the league last season: First-place Alabama, third-place LSU, fourth-place Tennessee and fifth-place Florida. The combined SEC record for the four teams was 46-22 (.676).
In that company, Kentucky’s fifth home-and-home opponent might get overlooked. Vanderbilt finished last in 2020-21 with a 3-13 league record.
In releasing its schedule Thursday, Vandy set a hopeful tone. The Commodores welcome back leading scorer and all-SEC first-team selection Scotty Pippen Jr. (20.8 points per game) and a second returning starter, Jordan Wright (8.7 points).
Vandy’s two new grad transfers include 7-footer Liam Robbins, who led the Big Ten and was 10th nationally with an average of 2.7 blocks per game for Minnesota. Among incoming freshmen is Shane Dezonie, a four-star prospect who decommitted from Arizona.
“We are excited about this year’s team,” third-year coach Jerry Stackhouse said in the new release. “And I know our fans will enjoy watching us grow and compete as we create some of our own Memorial Magic this season.”
Tough schedule
Bellarmine, which will be playing its second season as a Division I program, will have a non-conference schedule that includes games at Purdue, at Gonzaga, at West Virginia and against UCLA in Las Vegas.
Those four opponents had a combined record of 90-31 last season and an average final NET ranking of 16.8.
Coach Scott Davenport cited multiple reasons for scheduling marquee opponents: receiving financial guarantees to help support Bellarmine’s athletics budget, trying to enhance the program’s brand and producing a selling point to recruits.
“But most of all, OUR players deserve it and appreciate it!” he texted.
‘Coach Cal Court’
John Calipari will be at Clarion University on Sept. 21. That’s when his alma mater will officially rename its basketball floor the “John V. Calipari Court.” It will also go by the more informal “Coach Cal Court,” the school said.
Jim Geiger, Clarion’s vice president for advancement, noted the financial support the UK coach has provided.
“Coach Calipari has been everything a university could ask for in an alumnus,” Geiger wrote in an email. “He and Ellen are among our most generous benefactors, providing support not only for our men’s basketball program but also for important programs like our Student Emergency Fund as many of our students dealt with financial hardships due to COVID-19.”
The ceremony,which begins at 6:30 p.m., is by invitation only. But it can be viewed on the PSAC Sports Digital Network, which is available as a free app download on iOS and Android as well as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV.
Congratulations
To former UK point guard Saul Smith. He and his fiancee, Ali Gustafson, are to be married on Oct. 1 in Milwaukee.
Happy birthday
To retired referee John Clougherty. He turned 78 on Friday. … To Kellan Grady. He turned 24 on Saturday. … To Mark Pope. He turned 49 on Saturday. … To Donna Lopiano, the president of The Drake Group, which seeks to maintain an academic component in college athletics. She turned 75 on Saturday. … To EJ Montgomery. He turns 22 on Sunday (today). … To Todd Svoboda. He turns 50 on Tuesday. … To Marcus Lee. He turns 25 on Tuesday. … To Larry Brown, whose coaching career includes nine NBA teams plus UCLA and Kansas. He turns 81 on Tuesday. … To Marquis Estill. He turns 40 on Wednesday. … To Reggie Warford. He turns 67 on Wednesday.
Kentucky’s 2021-22 men’s basketball schedule liberally spiced with challenges
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‘Looking forward to returning to Kentucky!’ Former UK coach to lead team into Rupp.