Is Tubby leaving U? My hunch is he's not

Media sources in Virginia and Kentucky are speculating that Tubby Smith is on the verge of resigning as the Gophers men's basketball coach to become head coach at the University of Virginia, where there is a new $131 million arena and a deluxe basketball practice building.

You want my opinion? It won't happen.

When asked a week ago if he was leaving to take the Georgia job, Smith said there was nothing to it.

Smith is happy here, and if he did leave, he would have pay the University of Minnesota $1.5 million.

This coaching situation isn't similar to when Lou Holtz was the Gophers football coach in 1984-85. He had a Notre Dame clause in his contract, allowing him to leave Minnesota and move to South Bend with a much better chance to win at the prestigious school with unequalled football tradition.

True, Virginia is close to Smith's Maryland home, and to where he played college basketball at High Point, N.C. Smith and his wife, Donna, have a lot of relatives in the Virginia area.

But unless Smith has been talking a lot of malarkey about how good the Minnesota job is, there isn't any chance that the former Kentucky coach will leave after only two years with the Gophers.

He said Minnesota has more basketball recruits close at hand than does Kentucky, with one of the best AAU basketball programs in the country. He said Gophers fans are as supportive as any in the country, and the backing of University President Robert Bruininks and athletic director Joel Maturi has been super.

He consistently has said he can win here, as he proved this year by getting the team into the NCAA tournament.

Then you have all the incoming talent for the 2009-10 season. Not only is the nucleus of the team returning, but he has four of the best recruits in the country in Royce White of Hopkins, Rodney Williams of Cooper, Justin Cobbs of Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, Calif., and Trevor Mbakwe of Miami Dade Community College. Cobb, a guard, scored 47 points Feb. 27 in a 97-93 overtime loss to Inglewood (Calif.). Mbakwe, a former Henry Sibley and St. Bernard's star, is ranked as one of the top 10 junior college players in the country.

Smith has made a ton of friends on campus, and there would be a lot of people shocked if he picked up and left for Virginia.

No threats Wolves owner Glen Taylor said that even though the team is losing lots of games and money, none of his partners has asked to withdraw from the ownership. And there hasn't been any suggestion by any of the stockholders to move the team because it hasn't drawn well in the past few years.

Taylor said all of his partners have been patient and, like him, are convinced that with Kevin McHale as coach and three No. 1 draft choices next year, the team will turn things around and the fans will come back.

Jottings This is the third time Smith has taken a team to the NCAA tournament in his second year as coach. All 10 of his Kentucky teams made the tournament, and both of his Georgia teams won at least 20 games to make the tournament.

The two scoreboards in TCF Bank Stadium are installed, and they are two of the best in the country. The main board is about 48 feet high by 108 feet wide and has HD technology. The auxiliary board is 27 feet tall by 48 feet wide. In addition, there is an exterior marquee, which is 15 feet tall by 34 feet wide. The entire package cost $9 million.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer and pitcher Mark Prior, who were the top draft choices in 2001, have both had health problems. Prior has had a lot more injury problems than Mauer and has had little success. That's the reason Prior got only a one-year, minor league contract from the San Diego Padres.

Gophers head assistant wrestling coach Joe Russell reports that Bart Reiter and Alec Ortiz, two of the seven Gophers recruits who have signed tenders, finished their high school careers with great records. Reiter of Don Bosco High School in Gilbertville, Iowa, joined his brother, Mack -- a three-time All-America during his Gophers career -- as the only brothers to each win four state high school titles in Iowa. Ortiz finished his career at Newberg (Ore.) with a 104-0 career record and four state titles. Ortiz is the first wrestler in Oregon to finish with a perfect record since Dan Russell, Joe's older brother, went unbeaten from 1983-1986.

Jim Molinari, who was Monson's replacement at Minnesota, coached Western Illinois to a 9-20 record, 6-12 in the Summit League, where North Dakota State was the league champion. Incidentally, both North Dakota State and South Dakota State will be on the Gophers' basketball schedule next season.

Tobi Okuyemi, the outstanding 6-3, 235-pound defensive end from unbeaten Class 5A champion Wayzata, has offers from Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska and the Gophers, according to Gopher Illustrated. Okuyemi runs the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, can bench 240 pounds and squat 415 pounds.

Former Vikings Pro Bowl fullback Tony Richardson signed a one-year contract to return to the Jets. Richardson, 37, went back to the Jets even though the team had a coaching change, from Eric Man-gini to Rex Ryan. Richardson told the New York Times last month: "It was easy after sitting down and talking to Coach Ryan and listening to the direction he wants to take the team. He said: 'Hey, we're going to run the football. We're going to be all-weather.' As a fullback, that's music to my ears. ... I knew it would be a good fit." Richardson, who has played 14 NFL seasons, said he thought he could play two more seasons in the NFL.