Tubby Smith out at Memphis after two seasons
RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team
Tubby Smith is out as Memphis' basketball coach after just two years on the job. How did the Tigers get to this point? What are realistic expectations for the program moving forward?
FROM GREAT TO MEDIOCRE
Memphis basketball has seen the great but also the mediocre within the past 10 years. In 2008, a John Calipari-led unit reached the national championship game and came oh-so-close to winning it all. From that point, through a Josh Pastner era which suddenly doesn't look so bad, the Tigers have fallen from the pinnacle of the sport to the crowded depths of mediocrity.
Calipari’s tenure may have been more an anomaly than the norm. Before his arrival, the program had moved beyond the Sweet 16 just once during the prior 14 seasons. Pastner's resume at Memphis, winning more than 23 games in five of his seven seasons on campus, was sterling compared to the program's status quo pre-Calipari.
THE DOWNFALL
Smith won 19 games in his first year on campus and notched 21 victories this season, but he started things off in Memphis on the wrong foot and never recovered. KJ and Dedric Lawson, set to be cornerstones of the roster during Smith’s initial season, left the program due to the their father, Keelon, being reassigned from an assistant coaching position to an off-court role. The talent drain continued over the following two years; five other Tigers would eventually leave the program which, coupled with the decommitment of top 2016 pledge Charlie Moore, was too much to overcome.
Recruiting was a major issue during Smith’s tenure. He was unable to sign a local prospect and inked just one Rivals150 prospect, 2017 four-star guard Jamal Johnson. The Tigers did good work on the junior college trail under Smith but for a program known for winning major recruiting battles, Smith's lackluster results were hard to stomach.
EXPECTATIONS AND THE AVENUE BACK
The very best seasons at Memphis have featured rosters full of the best local talent and a few standouts from around the southeast. The program's move to the AAC was supposed to provide a boost but the Tigers have struggled mightily to achieve the top-dog status that they enjoyed in Conference USA.
Memphis can put a consistent winner on the floor. That has been done even without Calipari on the bench. Can the Tigers consistently challenge for a Final Four? That would seem to be very, very difficult unless the program catches lightning in a bottle like it did with Calipari.