Tubby's Legal Battle??

by ALLBLUCAT on Jun 19, 2009 1:00 PM EDT Comment 15 comments

According to ESPN, Jimmy Williams, a former OSU and Minnesota assistant coach has sued Tubby Smith for Negligent Misrepresentation.

This comment is not an indictment of Tubby in any way, and to be honest, I couldn't see Tubby making this kind of an error, if it is indeed true. Williams alleges that Tubby told him he wanted him and could get him the kind of money he wanted. Apparently the coach was denied hire due to being involved with NCAA violations in the past. There has of yet to be any comment about the case by Tubby or the University of Minnesota.

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Did this guy hire Sypher's attorney?

If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.

by btcoop71 on Jun 19, 2009 1:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bogus Lawsuit

Going nowhere.

Coaches who sue their former employers reduce their chances of getting another job.

by FortyYearCatFan on Jun 19, 2009 1:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

In my experience, Athletic Directors do not blackball men who seek justice in the courts of law,

especially where the facts bear out that they were victimized, which it clearly sounds like this guy was. They care about whether the man can do his job, not whether he got screwed by some unscrupulous former employer.

I think Jerry Tarkanian (all-time winningest coach in all of college basketball) might have some words of wisdom to offer those who suggest lawsuits by coaches are not profitable. Tark sued both his NBA employers and the NCAA — and won both cases on his way to winning 990 games and a National Championship by crushing Puke University by an all-time finals record of 30 points (103-73).

I do wonder about the quality of the lawyering this guy is getting, though, because negligent misrepresentation seems like the weakest of the various claims he could have brought based on what we’ve heard — which is not that Tubby was crooked, but that Tubby just jumped the gun and offered the job before he had it cleared with the A.D. I also find it curious that he sued Smith personally, rather than as agent for U of Minn. That seems doomed to failure.

by Ken Pomeroy on Jun 21, 2009 12:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Winningest coach

Well, yeah, if you count 8 years at two Cali jc’s.

But yeah, a great coach was he. As you mentioned, he’ll always hold a special place in my heart for the total destruction of Duke in the ‘90 finals. That team may still be the best college bb team I’ve ever seen.

by Ken Howlett on Jun 21, 2009 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tubby just doesnt strike me as the kind to do something like

this without getting prior approval, but he probably felt like he had autonomy over staff hires….something he wasnt sure he had here. Maybe he didnt know about the NCAA violations?

Remember, we're having fun now!!!

by ALLBLUCAT on Jun 19, 2009 1:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Double Standard

On the surface and early in the process but isn’t it intriguing that John Calipari gets hung on the media cross for being unaware that a Chicago HS student allegedly cheated on an entrance exam while Orlando Smith has thus far escaped criticism for being unaware during the employment process of a coach’s alleged indiscretion. It will be interesting to follow the media’s reaction and see if they can call up similar scandalization.

"The prosperity of commerce is now perceived and acknowledged by all enlightened statesmen to be the most useful as well as the most productive source of national wealth, and has accordingly become a primary object of its political cares."

--Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 12, 27 November 1787

by Wild Weasel on Jun 19, 2009 4:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think Tubby is guilty.

My only questions are:
1. Where are the TV stations in investigating this story?
2. How come the Star Tribune isn’t doing an investigation?
3. Why doesn’t the media get William’s side of the story?

Sheesh, the Gophers must have the entire Minneapolis in their back pocket. It’s a crime, I tell you. It’s a conspiracy.

'..when they bring a knife, you bring a gun...that's the Chicago way..'

by HozeKing on Jun 19, 2009 4:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Dirty Rat

Of course Tubby is guilty! Look how he left the basketball program at Kentucky! I think he also had something to do with the problems at Memphis, the investigations at Alabama and Florida State. Probably the weather around here and every thing else that’s wrong with the world.
Let’s see how the court’s rule or maybe we can simply ask Mr Cheek if Minnesota should fire him right now.

by TheParisGuy on Jun 20, 2009 11:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I have seen no evidence that Tubby was involved in the Alabama and Florida State issues.

Tubby’s problems here had nothing to do with his ethics, but with his inability to sustain the program at the level it was when it was handed over to him. So far as I can tell the mystery fax was the only smelly thing he was inolved in here.

The bad weather is my fault.

by Ken Pomeroy on Jun 21, 2009 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs