|
Tubby Smith, basketball coach for
the University of Kentucky Wildcats, will be the guest of honor
at the ARC dedication. |
ST. MARY’S
CITY (APRIL 28, 2005)– St. Mary’s College of Maryland will officially dedicate its new Athletics and Recreation Center
(ARC) with a ceremony and gala in the new arena beginning at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, April 30.
Tubby Smith, former coach at Great Mills High and current head coach at the University of Kentucky, will be the guest of
honor at the event. The evening will include food, musical entertainment and dancing.
Major gifts to the new ARC, made possible by the generosity of local citizens, will also
be revealed at the event.
Tickets are $100 per person and must be purchased in advance. For ticket information,
contact the Athletics and Recreation Department at 240-895-4295, or the Office of
Development at 240-895-4286.
The ARC opens to members of the community on May 1. Information on individual and family
membership rates will be made available at the gala. The ARC opened to students, faculty
and staff of the College in January. It features a 1,200-seat arena, 1,500 square-foot
climbing wall, fitness center, group fitness room, recreational courts, athletic training
room, general and team locker rooms, lounges with wireless Internet, and classroom space.
An aquatic center, which includes an Olympic-size pool, will open in June.
Tubby Smith, a native of Scotland, Md. and a graduate of Great Mills High, was named as the Kentucky
Wildcats’ 20th head coach on May 12, 1997 and led the team to the NCAA national basketball title in his first
season. Since then, the team has won five SEC crowns and five SEC tournament titles, with
six Sweet 16 finishes in his seven seasons.
Smith began his coaching career at Great Mills High School in Great Mills, Md., where he was head coach for four years and compiled a 46-36 record.
His next stop came at Hoke County High School in Raeford, N.C., where he recorded a 28-18 mark in two seasons. Following stints as
an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth, and the University of Kentucky, Smith landed his first head coach position at the University of Tulsa in 1991. In 1995, he became
head coach at the University of Georgia, before returning to Kentucky in 1997.
A 1973 graduate of High Point College, N.C., Smith was an all-conference performer as a senior. At High Point, he earned a bachelor’s
degree in health and physical education. As an active member of the community, Smith
established the Tubby Smith Foundation to assist underprivileged children. The foundation
has raised more than $1.5 million in the past five years.
Smith is the sixth of 17 children raised on a rural farm in Scotland. He and his wife, Donna,
have three sons: Orlando (G.G.), 27, and Saul, 25, are both pursuing careers in the
coaching profession; and Brian, 19, is a freshman playing basketball at the University of Mississippi.
