NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early hot seat power rankings for 2021-22

10. Tubby Smith

Having Tubby Smith on this list comes with an asterisk, considering High Point is not necessarily a high-major program – but how much longer the 69-year old, national championship-winning coach will continue to lead his alma mater may be one of the more intriguing questions of any mid-major team heading into 2021-22.

After having been ousted at Memphis, Smith returned to his old stomping grounds in 2018, hoping to lead the Panthers to their first-ever Div. I Tournament berth.  A 16-15 showing and fifth-place finish in the Big South in his first season produced optimism – that unfortunately has subsided since then.

The past two seasons have yielded nine-win campaigns, with the latest seeing High Point finish eighth in the Big South with a 6-11 mark.  There has been little to be excited over between the two seasons, with little fanfare in the 18 combined wins – albeit the Panthers’ losses this past season was, for the most part, competitive, with nine of them being decided by single-digits.

High Point’s biggest success during Smith’s career – and also the reason why the future may be bleak – is John-Michael Wright, who has led the Panthers in scoring the past two seasons, including a 20.1 mark in 2020-21.  A Big South All-Conference First Teamer this year, Wright made the decision to transfer from High Point – and with incoming St. John’s transfer David Caraher seemingly the lone newcomer, the future seems uncertain for the Panthers.

It is not wrong to believe that High Point will most likely be Smith’s final stop, and it will most certainly be where he retires from – but whether that decision comes on his terms or on High Point’s terms has yet to be seen.  If the Panthers are unable to claw out of the bottom of the Big South, then that decision may ultimately come soon enough for Smith.