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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 2, 2013Kirby HocuttLawrence SchovanecTubby SmithLAWRENCE SCHOVANEC: Good afternoon. Thank you for being here. Coach Smith, Donna, I'm delighted to welcome you as members of the Texas Tech community. Tubby Smith's record of success as a head basketball coach speaks for itself. Over the past few days I've had the opportunity to spend some time with him, and I've gained a great appreciation for how he has attained that success. More than just winning, he's always done it the right way. He's an educator who cares deeply about his student athletes and developing them for success beyond basketball. I have no doubt that he will, as we say here at Texas Tech, build fearless champions. It's also significant that he's a model coach when it comes to NCAA compliance. Donna and Tubby have had a significant impact on every community in which they have lived. They are people of great warmth and humility and salt‑of‑the‑earth type characteristics, the kind of qualities that we value in this community and that are appreciated by all the supporters of Texas Tech University. Over the past few months, I've had the great opportunity to work with Kirby Hocutt. He approached this search the way he approaches every task: Thoughtfully, thoroughly, and always guided by what is in the best interests of our student athletes and Texas Tech. Thank you, Kirby, for what you do. I also want to express my appreciation to President Nellis. His wise counsel and participation in this search was a great asset, and I also want to say thank you to Chancellor Hance for his support of the process. Many great things are happening at Texas Tech. To add a coach of Tubby Smith's stature is a great achievement and adds to our momentum. Tubby, I and the entire Red Raider Nation look forward to the successful program that we know you will build. Again, Donna and Tubby, welcome, and we're delighted that you're here. At this time I'll turn the program over to Kirby Hocutt. KIRBY HOCUTT: Thank you, Dr.Schovanec, and good afternoon. What a great, exciting day to be a Red Raider. Appreciate so many of you being here, so many familiar faces, and it's a day that I've been looking forward to for quite some time. We're so fortunate at Texas Tech. We have the opportunity to educate, serve and grow fearless champions. That's our mission statement, and we talk a lot about educating, serving and growing fearless champions. We have 416 student athletes who do all the right things to represent us with class and competition in the community, and most importantly in the classroom. I want to recognize and appreciate our men's basketball team for being here this afternoon. I had a chance to be with most of them at about 10:30 last night to share with them the good news that Coach Smith had accepted this opportunity, and guys, I appreciate you being here. I appreciate what you stand for and the way that you represent this University. So thank you. We have tremendous leadership at Texas Tech. I'm looking forward to Dr.Nellis joining us as our president and working alongside and for him. But Dr.Schovanec, thank you for your leadership and counsel and guidance over the past number of months. I sincerely appreciate it, and thank you to Regent Neal for being here today. Nancy, thank you for your continued support and all that you do. As an athletics program we benefit from tremendous leadership at the top with our head coaches. Our head coaches have the opportunity to influence and shape young people, and many of our head coaches are here with us this afternoon, and I want to recognize and thank them for coming. I know Coach Kingsbury was here. We had a chance to visit with him briefly backstage. They have practice today at 4:00, so he had to excuse himself, but appreciate Kliff coming over and welcoming Tubby and Donna to Lubbock. Tom Stone is here. Tom has been leading our soccer program for six years and is already the winningest soccer coach in the history of Texas Tech. We went to the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time, won our first round game, so Tom, thank you for being here and all you continue to do for Texas Tech. Sitting next to Tom is Coach Hays. Shannon, thank you for being here. Shannon is in his fourth season leading our softball program and has performed what could arguably be one of the greatest turnarounds in softball history at the college level. He's been our head coach for three seasons. He's in his fourth season, and we've been in postseason play every year that he's led our team forward. Coach Kittley, thank you for being here. Wes is in his 14th season and just come back from the NCAA indoor national championship meet, where our men came back, finished fifth in the country, so congratulations, Wes. Wes is simply the best at what he does, and our men's and women's outdoor track teams are currently both ranked in the top 20 in the country. So appreciate his continued leadership. I see Don Flora sitting towards the back, and Don, thank you for your continued leadership. Don just finished his second year leading our volleyball program and already in his first two years we've accumulated more wins than we had in our previous decade in women's volleyball. He is doing a great job, and is going to continue to build that program up to the top of this league and one that we're very, very proud of. We already are. I also see Coach Myers here. Gerald, thank you for your continued leadership, your continued friendship and counsel. Gerald is the greatest, and I've enjoyed building that relationship in my time here. Obviously my predecessor and continues to be athletic director emeritus, but also this is a special time, Gerald, to sit in the chair of the head basketball coach. So Coach Myers, thank you for everything you continue to do. And certainly not last, but it's our national champion, Coach Sharp is here, and Marsha has become a dear friend and appreciate so much her continued counsel and leadership. Marsha is a visionary. She thinks bigger than most of us do, and to have her engaged and involved in this department is truly a blessing, and we're so fortunate. So Coach Sharp, thank you for being here this afternoon to celebrate this with us. 19 days ago, we began our search to identify the next leader for our men's basketball program. 19 days ago our season ended in Kansas City, and I set an agenda at that time to identify the best person in the country to come and lead our program towards a successful future, and I'm excited to have the chance to introduce that individual to you today. However, first I'd be remiss if I did not stop and recognize and thank Chris Walker. Chris did a tremendous job in serving as our interim head coach during the 2012‑2013 season. His leadership and his positive attitude were contagious, and it was very tremendous, and I sincerely appreciate the good work that coach Walker did this year. Chris Walker will have the opportunity to be a head coach, and when that day comes, Chris Walker is going to be a very successful head coach and do a tremendous job. That being said, no two coaching searching are ever the same, and there was certain criteria that I wanted to ensure that we achieved with this decision. Number one, we wanted to make sure that we found someone who exhibits West Texas values, someone with a strong commitment to hard work and dedication and determination. Number two, we wanted to find an experienced and proven leader of young men, a leader who will bring stability to Texas Tech basketball, and at the same time is going to build these young men into winners both on and off the basketball court. Third, we wanted to find a nationally respected leader, an individual who has experienced success at the highest levels, either as a student athlete or as a coach. And fourth, we wanted to find someone who shares and embraces our expectations for excellence in all that we do at Texas Tech, and somebody that believes that at Texas Tech we can compete for championships. The process we went through the last 19 days was thorough. It was healthy, and it was appropriate. I made one recommendation to both President Nellis and interim President Schovanec, and they both approved my recommendation, and then they received final sign‑off from Chancellor Hance, and all of us could not be more pleased with the outcome that we are here today to celebrate and to announce. With Tubby Smith, we have a leader with proven experience that will bring success and stability. We have a head coach who has allowed us to check off all the criteria that I mentioned a few moments ago. We have a leader and a head coach who has served for 22 years as head coach in college basketball, and out of those 22 years he has been to the NCAA Tournament 17 times. And we have a head coach who went to the NCAA Tournament this year and advanced in the NCAA Tournament. Tubby Smith is one of the most respected men, not only in college basketball. Tubby Smith is one of the most respected men in all of intercollegiate athletics, and Tubby Smith has experienced success everywhere that he's been. In fact, 19 out of the last 20 years that he's been a head coach, his teams have won 20 games or more. We spend a lot of time talking about the development of character of our 416 student athletes. Tubby Smith is a great role model, educator, leader and basketball coach, and today I'm excited and ask you to join me in welcoming Tubby and Donna to the Red Raider family, and please join me in introducing your new head basketball coach, Tubby Smith. TUBBY SMITH: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. You know, one thing, we didn't bring this weather with us. I've got to tell you. But we're really excited to be here, Donna and I. It's a real honor and a privilege to lead a program, but especially some with the tradition that you have here. I've done a lot of talking with a lot of coaches and a lot of people around the country, and I appreciate Coach Myers. We spoke, and he's been very helpful to me, and I'm looking forward to your help. Marsha, we really‑‑ I'm looking for help any way we can get it. I know that I've got great respect for what you've accomplished here. I know how tough it is as a coach to get things accomplished. But again, it's really wonderful to be a part of this Lubbock community, Texas Tech University's family, and we've been in this business for a long time now, starting our 39th year, started out as a high school coach. All we ever wanted to do was teach and coach. I'm one of 17, small farm in southern Maryland, so I know the value of hard work and sacrifice. I appreciate the committee, the search committee that Kirby headed up. We thank you for all the things that President Schovanec, Lawrence, we spent some time together along with Ken Hance, the chancellor, and great people. Right away we were sold. They flew down to North Carolina, we met‑‑ in fact, we were just going to talk, and they indicated, well, we have two empty seats on the plane. Seriously, and I go‑‑ Donna said, let's go back with them right now and see what it's like. We flew back that evening, and sure enough, here we are. So it's really been a whirlwind, and I've got to admit that it's‑‑ but I've known some things about Lubbock. I've been here before recruiting a lot of the JuCos in the area, flew in here, so I'm very familiar‑‑ not very familiar, but I'm familiar with this West Texas area. We're very intrigued with the Red Raider program, the enthusiasm and the passion that your leadership showed was just off the chart, and I have to mention that Kirby, Kent Hance and Lawrence, they were unbelievable. And so we were really sold right away, so there was no way that we were going to be skeptical about what we were coming into. But we were bitten by the bug of excitement and energy. One thing impressed us is the facilities. One of the things in college sports today, it's been an arms race for a long time in developing facilities, and you have some of the best here, and I know that we can build on that. I know Coach Knight, Bobby Knight, had a winning program here and took the program, took the team to the NCAA a number of years, so we want to try to‑‑ we expect to do that, as well. I know the previous coaches that were here, I've known Chris Walker for some time, appreciate what he did with you guys. That's a tough thing to do. In fact, I replaced a coach, Dan Munson in Minnesota and Jim Molinari who's a good friend of mine who was interim coach for that year. So I know how tough it is because I've seen people go through that. But it's my goal to build this program into one of the top programs, not just in the Big 12 but in the country, and that's not going to be easy. It's going to be hard work, and we know that the sacrifices and the process of rebuilding a program is not easy. We've done it a few places, and I think that the identity and the talent that we have here, we have a good start. And I'm hearing nothing but great things about you guys and the energy and effort that you guys have been putting in, and through the leadership that you had from Chris Walker I know we can build on that. Obviously recruiting is the lifeblood of every program. That's going to be critical that we get started right away, and this time of year‑‑ that's why I wanted to get here now, because there are a lot of talented players in this state and around the country that are still looking for an opportunity, and certainly we want to show them why the Texas Tech Red Raider basketball program is available to them and ready to get started. Again, the exceptional athletes that are in this state, we expect to be involved with the best. We plan on putting together a great staff that can help us do that and move on from there. Our tenure of Minnesota is one that we're very proud of, and I tell people I don't really defend myself because we've done a great job wherever we've been. We graduate our athletes. I work very closely with the administration. I love the camaraderie of being around other coaches, learning from them, whether it's cross country, track coach, volleyball, tennis, that's what it's all about, it's about a family. It's about those relationships you build with coaches. So it was tough to leave what happened at Minnesota, but life goes on. We had, again, Donna and I were very involved in the community, and we expect to be involved in the community here in Lubbock. Again, we leave some good friends behind, some good players, but we know we're inheriting even more great friends and players. And one of the things that my dad taught me growing up on that farm with my mom and dad was to do the best job you can and leave that place in better shape than you found it, and we've done that everywhere we've been, and I'm proud of that. My staff that I've had over the years, over the six years at Minnesota, did an outstanding job, and I'm sure if they don't end up here they'll find opportunities elsewhere that will help them reach their dreams. Again, coaching is a real‑‑ it's something that I've always dreamed of doing. The people that influenced me the most in my life, other than my parents, were my teachers and coaches. So it's something that we cherish dearly. I've been involved with NABC, the National Association of Basketball Coaches for years, I know Coach Myers will tell you that that's where a lot of the rules and regulations and things that we try to help improve and enhance basketball. We consider ourselves guardians of the game, coaches, and so a lot of people look at our profession in a way that maybe there's all these other elements that are involved. But I can tell you right now, the coaches that are involved with college sports today are all in it for the right reasons, to help these young men and women grow and be the best people they can be. Again, we hope to bring the same type of success to Texas Tech through our recruiting, through our coaching, and I'm sure we can do that with the support of the administration, the support of the faculty, the students, and the alumni and the fans and community. Again, we're really excited to be here. It's a great opportunity for us, and I'm sure I'll get an opportunity to visit with you and meet you at some point in time. My office is always open. Sometimes we close practice, but you can still come‑‑ just let me know if you want to come. We'd love to have you there. It's going to be a great opportunity and a great‑‑ it's going to be a lot of fun, and I can promise you we'll give you our best effort in every area to make this a program that all can be proud of. Thank you. Guns up. Q. What was it about this program, obviously despite sort of a lengthy strength here of losing seasons, what was it about this opportunity that you saw that you felt like it can be built into a winner? TUBBY SMITH: Well, it's like in recruiting. I always tell players it's good to be needed, but it's probably more important to be wanted. And I sensed that from Kirby Hocutt and Lawrence and Kent when they came to talk to me, and when my lawyer Ricky Lefft called to said, hey, they'd be interested in talking to me, I was only two days removed from being dismissed. So right away you start to analyze the potential of a program. Again, I've known Coach Myers for years. I've watched the progress from previous coaches, and we said, okay, number one, you're a‑‑ I want to get back on the horse right away and get going because I feel like I have a lot to offer and a lot of energy and a lot of good years left in me to coach. So right away I know that you're in a top conference in the country, the Big 12 is one of the top conferences, major conferences in the country. I know the competitions are going to be outstanding. We've been familiar with this region. We've recruited this state. A lot of people have, but I was at Tulsa and other places, and we have a player on our team now‑‑ not our team, but on the Minnesota team recruited from the Texas area. So we're familiar with the area. We know the potential here. We knew they had great facilities. All these things come together to form the opinion that, hey, we can win here, and that's why we're very excited about this opportunity. Q. Can you talk about how exactly you're going to recruit Texas? Will you use some of these former staffers that you had at other schools as conduits into the high schools, or how will you go about the recruiting in Texas, and will you go to other states, as well? TUBBY SMITH: Well, you have to recruit nationally now, and I look at the roster, you have players from all over the country, and that's the way it is in college sports. These young people get a chance to play all over the country in AAU programs and high school. So they're very mobile. We have a mobile society. But we will find the right staff. We will have to find people that have ties to‑‑ and certainly I want to reach out to the high schools. I was a high school coach, and I know how important it is to develop that relationship with them, with the high school coaches as well as the other programs that athletes come out of. And again, we'll be at the Final Four interviewing coaches and talking with coaches. I really haven't decided on a‑‑ I've got some people in mind that I think will be very helpful in getting us involved with the type of athletes that can help us win as well as get an education. First and foremost we expect them to come here and get a quality education, which I know this institution will provide. We've got everything in place, academic service, right on. So those areas are going to be critical. But there are hosts of pockets in this state. Obviously Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, a lot of‑‑ and then I've talked to a lot of my former players. I've got over 20 some young men that I've coached over the years that are coaching in the Tulsa area, New York, you name it, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas. So I'm very comfortable and very confident that we'll put together a great staff and that we'll be able to recruit outstanding players. So I don't really have a‑‑ I do have a process of how we're going to go about it, but I don't really want to divulge who we‑‑ so there's no names out there yet, but there's a lot of people we're going to be talking about that can help us. I hope I answered your question there. But we expect to recruit all over, from California. We've had some great players, again, when I think of some of the guys that are playing professional ball like Rajon Rondo, Keith Bogut, kids that played for us, Tayshaun Prince, and there are a couple that are leaving the Minnesota program that will be playing at the next level. So everywhere we've been, whether it was at Tulsa, Georgia, Minnesota, and we're expected to bring in those caliber players that can play not just college ball but beyond. Q. Given what this program has been through the past three years, how soon do you think you can build it into a contender? TUBBY SMITH: That's a trick question. You know what, we're just going to give it our best effort. There's no timetable. We expect it to happen immediately, but we know the challenges that are involved. But if these young men that we have in the program and the things I've heard about them as far as their heart and their courage and their work ethic, then I think we're going to be very competitive immediately. Now, what is that? That means that we're going to be‑‑ when you see the Red Raiders play, you're going to see a team that plays hard, that plays smart, and they're going to play together. You're going to see a team that rebounds, and you're going to see a team that likes to get up and down the court because my teams have done that in the past. So that's the kind of energy and the type of style we plan to employ, one that's a winning style and one that we can‑‑ we've got a bunch of three‑point shooters over there, I'm sure they all think they can shoot the three. We could use a couple of those guys. We like to play an up‑tempo style, get out and extend our defense. Some of the coaches I've had the good fortune to work with over the years like Rick Pitino who's in the Final Four or Billy Donovan who beat us in our last game at Minnesota, some outstanding coaches, J.D. Barnett who worked here at West Texas State when he was an assistant coach there and I played for him at High Point, or Jerry Steele who I've played for. So I've had a number of different people I've had the good fortune to work around and be around. So we're going to employ a style that I think will be exciting for the fans, that our players will enjoy playing and I'll have fun coaching. Q. With the facilities here, what are kind of just your thoughts, and what kind of talks, if any, throughout this process were there of a practice facility here? TUBBY SMITH: Oh, yeah, there was talk about it, and obviously it's something that was impressive, that they had a practice facility. Obviously Texas Tech understood and understands that that's what you have‑‑ those are things that are necessary to attract, because you want your players to be able to go‑‑ I know when I was a college player, we had a little gym there, but we had an outside court, and I went to school at High Point University, and I remember just at night wanting to go out and maybe I'm studying for an exam and I needed a break. You could just run over to the gym, go work out. Sometimes there are logistics and weather that's involved, and that's what we want to‑‑ that's the beauty of having a practice facility. When something is going on in the arena, they have someplace to go and work out and play and work on their shots at any time of day. So that's a big key, I think, in development of an athlete and a basketball player today. So that was critical, and obviously the Spirit Arena is something that's impressive, with the box seating. I'm coming from a place where the building was the third oldest building in college basketball still being used is in Minnesota. So it's refreshing, so I'm excited about that, as well. Obviously we've got to get some fannies in those seats because that's important. Say all you want, but that's critical. So I expect to go out and promote and sell along with the administration everything we can about the fun and excitement that you're going to have coming to Spirit Arena or watching the Red Raiders play. Q. Can you just talk about you got some players who you'll be their fourth coach in four years. Talk about how important it is to help them understand that you're here for them and bring some stability to the team. TUBBY SMITH: Well, I can just tell you from experience, I played for three different coaches in four years at High Point University. Now, we were a small NAI school, we didn't have the pressure that these young men have on them today. We didn't have the media coverage. We didn't fly here and fly there. You'd get back late at night, and just the scrutiny that they're under from social media and everything else. So we didn't have that. But what I tell players, like my dad told me after my freshman year, midway through my freshman year at High Point University, I called my dad up and said these people don't like me. They don't like you? Did somebody do something to you? I said, no, sir. He said, well, they still paying for you to get your education, aren't they? I said, yeah. They're still feeding you? Yeah. You still have a place to live? Yeah. He said, boy, you'd better hang on to that because you're not coming back here. I've got 16 other hungry mouths to feed. So I need this bed, and if you come back, you're not coming back, you're going to war, you're going into the Army. So I tell that to players when they come in. I tell them the story and the best thing to happen to me was to stay at High Point. There were seven other players that were freshmen. I graduated in 1973 and I was the only player left from that original recruiting class. But it's been great because I met my lovely wife Donna there, I've got my jersey retired, locker room named after me. So sometimes you have to just last. Sometimes you have to just stay the course, and that takes a lot of‑‑ that takes a tough kid, a tough person to overcome all those obstacles, all the different people that you have to go through, three or four different coaches. It's not easy because every one of them have a different philosophy, a different system, but if you believe in yourself and you're secure in who you are and you have a parent to tell you you'd better stick it out, then you can make it. You can do anything your mind can believe, and you can get it done. So we're going to‑‑ I'm sure I'll be talking to some of these athletes because they're concerned. They're uneasy about who's the next guy and what next‑‑ how am I going to be treated, what is my place on the team. So that's all I'll share with them is just my experience of going through it, and it's the best thing to happen to me was to stay because the grass is not always greener on the other side. Q. What sold you on this program? What convinced you that you could build a program here? And really build something back to what it was with Coach Knight and Coach Dickey? TUBBY SMITH: Well, it's about people. It's not about buildings and bricks. You've got a beautiful campus, that attracts kids here, you're going to get a great education. Again, we have all the resources available to help student athletes reach their goals, get a degree, get an education. But it comes down to people. It comes down to the relationship and the trust that you have in others, and certainly I trust Kirby Hocutt. I mean, people have said nothing about great things about him, people in the business that really are doing it the right way, and I've heard that from everybody, so I got excited right away about that, about the leadership that's here from Dr.Nellis to Lawrence to Kent, your chancellor, your president. So everybody is headed in this direction. When you talk about previous people, you're not going to find a better gentleman or man that has meant so much to college basketball than Gerald Myers. So being around people like that, coming to this community, those are things that sold me on coming to Lubbock. And I think I fit in well. I'm going to get a pair of cowboy boots and a hat and I'll be all right. I already have some. I just didn't bring them with me. Thank you all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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