Kentucky Basketball will host Tubby Smith's High Point on December 31

Kentucky Basketball added another game to its 2021-22 schedule and it’s a big one. John Calipari just announced that Kentucky will host High Point, coached by Tubby Smith, on Friday, December 31 at Rupp Arena. It will be Tubby’s first trip back to Rupp since leaving Kentucky in 2007.

On Dec. 31 we are going to host @HPUMBB and welcome back @CoachTubbySmith in @Rupp_Arena for the first time since his days as our coach. We are working on some ways to honor Tubby and his time here and I can’t wait to fill in the #BBN in the near future.

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) August 30, 2021

Smith was an assistant coach at Kentucky in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons, then came back to take over for Rick Pitino as head coach in 1998. He, of course, won the national championship that debut year and finished his time on the job with a 263-83 in 10 seasons.

After leaving Lexington, Smith coached Minnesota (2007-13), Texas Tech (2013-16), and Memphis (2016-18). He took the job at High Point, his alma mater, in 2018. During Tubby’s three seasons as coach, the Panthers are 34-53, going 9-15 last season.

Smith is one of only two head coaches to guide five different programs to the NCAA Division I Tournament (Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Texas Tech). He has been named National Coach of the Year three times (2003, 2005, 2016), conference coach of the year six times (1994, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2016) and was honored with the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2016. 

We are very excited for our Panthers to compete against @UKCoachCalipari and the Wildcats this year. Looking forward to returning to Kentucky! https://t.co/2LOP4mfyMC

— Tubby Smith (@CoachTubbySmith) August 30, 2021

Kentucky’s 2021-22 Non-Conference Schedule

Calipari said Kentucky will release its full 2021-22 non-conference schedule later today. Here are the games we know of so far:

• Fri., Oct. 15: Big Blue Madness, Rupp Arena, Lexington KY
• Fri., Oct. 22: Blue-White Game, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• Tues., Nov. 9: Duke (Champions Classic), Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Fri., Nov. 12: Robert Morris*, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• Mon., Nov. 29: Central Michigan*, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• TBA: Ohio*, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• TBA: Mount St. Mary’s*, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• TBA: Albany*, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• TBA: North Florida*, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• Sat., Dec. 4: at Michigan, Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, MI
• Tues., Dec. 7: Southern, Rupp Arena, Lexington KY
• Sat., Dec. 11: Notre Dame, TBA
• Sat., Dec. 18: Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic), T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
• TBA: Louisville, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• Fri., Dec. 31: High Point, Rupp Arena, Lexington KY
• Sat., Jan. 29: at Kansas (Big 12-SEC Challenge), Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS

*Unconfirmed games