Texas Tech men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith will leave Texas Tech in favor of a job at the University of Memphis. Smith met with school officials Wednesday who were looking to replace Josh Pastner because he left to become the head coach at Georgia Tech.
According to a tweet from Gary Parrish, with CBS Sports, “Tubby Smith has reached an agreement in principle to be Memphis’ next coach, a source told @CBSSports. Formal announcement expected soon.”
Smith was the second coach to lead five different teams to the NCAA post-season tournament. He took Tech to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007. After Thursday’s report announcement, he could be the first to lead six.
His accomplishments include coaching the Kentucky Wildcats to the 1998 national title.
He came to Texas Tech in 2013 from the Minnesota Golden Gophers. His overall coaching record is 557 wins and 276 losses. His annual salary at Texas Tech was $1.8 million.