Time for Coach’s Son to Take Shot at the Point

At 13, when some boys are going through Dad’s wallet or liquor cabinet, Saul Smith was swiping videotapes of his father’s basketball practices at Tulsa.

“I wanted to see what they were doing,” Tubby Smith’s middle son recalled. “He just came from Kentucky, first head coaching job. He was getting on them. ... I was like, ‘Man, they get after it. It’s kind of tough up on that level. I’ve got to get better.”’

Eight seasons later, Tubby Smith is in his third year as Kentucky’s head coach. His son, now a junior, is the starting point guard for the Wildcats.

Saul Smith’s job isn’t easy. He succeeds Wayne Turner, who played in three consecutive Final Fours, won two championships and set an NCAA record for games played, 151.

With senior center Jamaal Magloire, Smith will be asked to provide leadership on a team many are picking to finish out of the top 10 for the first time in a decade.

And he faces opposition from a small but vocal segment of fans who believe he exemplifies the worst kind of nepotism. Many are haunted by the memory of former coach Eddie Sutton, whose son Sean started at the point 10 years ago and whose unrelated recruiting violations left the program in shambles.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be tough,”’ Saul Smith said. “But I have a great opportunity to be a great player here at UK, to win a lot of games, compete for national championships year in and year out. And then, how many people get a chance to play for their father?”

Growing up, he hung around the gyms where his father worked as an assistant and a head coach: Virginia Commonwealth, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tulsa and Georgia.

Following his older brother G.G., he played basketball and other sports--football, baseball, soccer. His father never pressured him to play basketball and didn’t have time to coach him much--something that makes playing at Kentucky special.

“In high school, I never really saw my dad very often. He was always on the road, recruiting,” he said.

In 1997, after making all-state in basketball as a senior at Clarke Central in Athens, Ga., Saul Smith planned to follow his older brother and play for their father at Georgia.

That spring, though, Rick Pitino left Kentucky to coach the Boston Celtics and Tubby Smith was offered the job.

“He came home and we sat down, he’s like, ‘You know, this is a family decision. I’m not just going to make this decision by myself,”’ Saul Smith recalled. “He’s like, ‘Saul, what do you think?’ I was the first one: ‘Yeah, I’m going to go.”’

He had loved Kentucky since his father was a Pitino assistant from 1989-91, when the Wildcats were on NCAA probation.

“I was good friends with Sean Woods, he wore my favorite number. I loved all those guys, Richie Farmer, all the old guys,” Saul Smith said. “When they had eight players, and they were going against Shaq with nobody taller than 6-6. That’s what I really loved about it.”

As a freshman, Saul Smith appeared in every game for Kentucky’s seventh national title team. Last season, he averaged 5 points a game, was fourth on the team in assists (61) and in 3-point shooting (35.6 percent).

Meanwhile, Turner educated him every day in practice.

“He understands what it’s going to take to win and how to stay focused,” Turner said of Saul Smith. “He’s mentally tough and Saul’s a guy who kind of blocks out all the negative stuff and stays positive, so I think he’s going to do a great job at the point spot.”

The normally genial Tubby Smith bristled when asked about the pressure on his son.

“There’s pressure on everybody,” he said. “I don’t understand where it’s such a big deal, except in the minds of a few that may not understand what’s going on in basketball.”

Saul Smith is off to a strong start this season. He had perhaps his best college game in a second-round Preseason NIT win over Utah, playing 35 minutes with seven points, three assists, four steals and only one turnover. With Kentucky clinging to a 48-46 lead and two minutes remaining, Smith stripped Utah’s Tony Harvey of the ball and raced downcourt, where he hit a short baseline jumper to give the Wildcats an insurmountable lead.

With Magloire and high school standouts like Tayshaun Prince and Desmond Allison among the Wildcats’ underclassmen, Smith doesn’t expect to have to be Kentucky’s offensive spark plug very often.

“I’ve done my job if I get Jamaal, Tayshaun and Desmond on the all-Southeastern Conference team,” he said. “I don’t need any honors. I’m not in it for a popularity contest.”