Tubby!!!

Well the world of the internet and the whisper mill has been heating up in the last week or so with the continued talk that Tubby Smith may be not long for the Kentucky job. There has been a consistent rumor, for the past month or so, that Tubby was going to leave within the next two weeks, taking a buy out from the school and heading to greener pastures. Whether this is true or not has been a huge riff between fans all over the Net and most people's belief of the story or not has boiled down to whether they like Tubby Smith as an individual and coach. In a recent post at the board at the center of this controversy, Dynasty Defenders (an anti-Tubby site that has represented some of the nastiest of the Tubby haters), folks debated the issue of whether I had taken a position on the subject in this post. A recent blog post I made has been linked on that board and others as proof that I believe Tubby is leaving. Thus I want to be clear..... I have NO solid evidence that Tubby is leaving UK. For the past five years, there has been offseason talk of the departure of Tubby Smith multiple times and only once (concerning South Carolina in 2002) has there been some threads of truth to the stories. Now I have no confirmation of the individuals who are propogating this most recent rumor and have never spoken with them about it. Whether it is valid or not, is not something I can comment on either way. I am skeptical of virtually all internet rumors that dont come from Richard Rice (aka CarolinaWildcats), but I dont know the person involved to say it is made up either. This however I do know. Two people who I have talked to who are close to the program have both said to me that the possibility of Tubby leaving is stronger than many suggest. According to these two folks, there may be a chance that Tubby could end up in a different locale next year based on lots of factors. Now is this just idle talk? Maybe. I dont often "predict" what will happen, as unless one hears it from the horse's mouth (as I did with Dunleavy going pro and Crawford to UK), you never know what will happen. And I certainly would never predict anything based on mere speculation. However these two are not simply people engaging in idle chatter. I firmly believe that they believe Tubby may be on the way out and their opinion is well-informed. I will once again say, if I were a betting man, Tubby is at UK on October 15 next year. I have never thought he was going to leave before and I still dont. And let me also make clear (as if anyone couldnt tell), I DONT WANT Tubby to leave. I think he is an excellent coach and the best person that is currently available for this job. He is a humble man, a good coach and an even better person. I hope he retires at UK. BUT for the first time in the Tubby era, I think there is more to the talks of him leaving than just the hopes and dreams of a few disenchanted fans. Call that me hedging my bets if you want, but it is my take on the subject. And I still am upset Adidas did not invite Micheal Porter.....