The Memphis Tigers have zeroed in on their preferred replacement for Josh Pastner. Tubby Smith, who has coached Texas Tech the last three seasons, has been named Memphis’ next basketball coach, the team announced on Thursday. The Memphis job has been open since Pastner went to Georgia Tech earlier this month.
Memphis hire Tubby Smith as next head coach, per reports
The Tigers have missed the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Smith is 64 years old and has had success everywhere during a 25-year head coaching career. He won a national championship with Kentucky in 1998 and has made 18 NCAA Tournament appearances. Smith led Texas Tech to the NCAA Tournament this season for the first time in nine years.
Memphis reportedly had interest in Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall and Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams before settling on Smith as a more realistic candidate, according to Parrish.
Smith has a 557-276 record as a head coach, which includes stops at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota before he arrived at Texas Tech. Memphis has missed the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons.
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