By John Hurrell

Last month, the students, faculty and staff at High Point University were shocked with the news of men’s head basketball coach, Tubby Smith, retiring.

Tubby Smith joined the Panthers as head coach in 2018 and brought a fire back to the program. His status as a legendary coach was already cemented, winning a National Championship with Kentucky in 1998 and sporting an impressive 642-369 all-time record. He also won countless conference titles and individual accolades that added up quickly.

While the reasoning behind Smith’s retirement is still unknown, his recent battle with COVID-19 seemed to play a part. The Panthers, however, are in great hands as Tubby Smith’s son, G.G. Smith, took the reins as head coach for the remainder of this season and will continue on to the 2022-2023 season.

G.G. Smith was an assistant coach at five separate schools and was head coach of Loyola from 2013 up until his move in 2018. He has over 20 years of coaching experience under his belt.

G.G. Smith was brought on in 2018 as an assistant coach at HPU to complete the father and son coaching duo. The players have had the chance to grow and bond with him adding to the confidence of the team. G.G. Smith is ready for the challenge and with a pool of new recruits and the coaching staff will look to build and add for the future.

At the press conference after the game against Longwood, the first game since Tubby Smith’s retirement, head coach G.G. Smith shared his thoughts.

“It’s a little bittersweet,” said Smith. “Obviously, really sad that my dad’s retiring. You know, it was just time. Time to hang it up. At the same time you get the job, so you’re excited. It really is just mixed emotions.”

G.G. Smith said the news was a bit of a surprise for him, but also remarked that he is both excited and ready to lead the Panthers into next year.

“I kinda blocked that out,” said Smith. “I knew we had a team to coach and a game to get ready for.”

When asked if his father’s retirement was on his mind leading up to the game, it’s clear that he is both locked in and blocking out the outside noise. Two things that are not easy for a head coach.

“I’m fortunate to be the next man up and I’m gonna do everything I can to get this program running, and do what I can to win more games and fully represent this university,” said Smith.

There was a somber feeling in the press room. Everyone knew the weight of the situation, but G.G. Smith was calm. He showed incredible resilience and made sure everything was business as usual.

Danny Shay, an HPU junior, shared his thoughts on the recent news.

“I think the departure of Tubby Smith is one that was expected, but not this soon,” said Shay. “We knew this would be the last place Tubby Smith coached in his illustrious career when he signed on a few years back, but I think he was able to bring in some great guys that put HPU men’s basketball on the map. I love what I’ve seen so far from G.G Smith in his short time as head coach and I’m very excited to see what his future holds for the program.”

Tubby Smith dropped by practice the day before the game to talk to the players and make everything official.

He left his son with these words of wisdom.

“Just coach the way you coach,” said Tubby Smith.

Those few words will stick with head coach G.G. Smith as he looks forward to next season and a chance to put HPU back on the radar.

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John Hurrell is a senior at High Point University majoring in Sports Media. For contact inquiries, please email jhurrell@highpoint.edu.