Sunday, June 11, 2006

The Kentucky Kernel, the University of Kentucky student newspaper, rejected a full-page ad calling for Tubby Smith’s dismissal as the men’s basketball head coach. Richard Cheeks, a professor at the school, and a group called Concerned Fans for UK Basketball sought the $1,700 ad.

Cheeks said “We see the program in decline. … We don’t want it to decline the way the Louisville program did in the latter years when Denny Crum was there. So we decided that we were going to begin to get our message out.”

A spokesman for Kentucky basketball, Scott Stricklin, said “Being that he’s one of the nation’s winningest coaches, he pretty much knows what it takes to win championships because he’s done it here,” Stricklin said.

The Kentucky Kernel’s general manager, Chris Poore, the decision to reject the ad was without the influence from the University of Kentucky’s administration.

In the past nine seasons at Kentucky, Smith has obtained a 241-71 record, including winning the 1998 national championship.