Tubby Smith announced that he is stepping down as the men‘s basketball coach at High Point on Wednesday, according to an official press release from the school. G.G. Smith, Tubby‘s son and Panthers‘ current associate head coach will take over for the remainder of the 2021–22 and the 2022–2023 season.
According to the school’s announcement, Smith felt that it was the right time to step away from basketball after he contracted COVID-19 for a second time in less than year. As a result of his second bout with the virus, the 70-year-old coach has been away from the program for an extended period.
High Point said in a statement that Smith, who graduated from the school after four years on the basketball team, will assist with alumni and community engagement and fundraising for athletics through the end of the year.
“I feel blessed to have had an amazing career leading, coaching and teaching great young men at first-class institutions. Working at my alma mater during this stage of my career has been a dream,” Smith said in a statement. ”I‘m thrilled that G.G. will be taking over as head coach. He will do a super job.
“Moving forward Donna and I will continue the work we have done for over two decades to support and assist the University as proud alums of HPU. HPU will always have a very special place in our hearts as we met and fell in love here at High Point. Our commitment and passion for HPU will never wane and we intend to continue be an integral part of its growth and prosperity well into the future.”
Smith was hired by High Point in 2018, less than two weeks after he was fired by Memphis. In three-plus seasons with the Panthers, he posted a 45–68 record.
Overall, Smith is 642–370 in his coaching stops at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Memphis and High Point. His career accolades include leading Kentucky to a national championship in 1998, winning AP and Naismith Coach of the Year honors in 2003 and taking five different schools to the NCAA tournament, the most recent of which was Texas Tech in 2016.
