Guest Speaker: Coach Orlando "Tubby" Smith
It is said that all roads eventually lead home. For Coach Orlando “Tubby” Smith, home was the tobacco and tomato fields of Scotland, Maryland.
Coach Smith is known as the coach of a National Championship team and five-time NCAA tournament leader. In 2000, Smith served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Team that won the gold medal in Sydney, Australia. He was named the Werner Ladder Men’s Naismith Coach of the Year in 2003 and six-time conference coach of the year (MVC 1994, 1995; SEC 1998, 2003, 2005; Big 12 2016). And this year, 2026, the Atlanta Tipoff Club honored him with the 2026 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Basketball Award in recognition of his extraordinary and lasting impact on the game.
But during his early days teaching Phys Ed at Great Mills High School, he was just a humble guy living in a trailer.
Whether leading the Kentucky Wildcats to the NCAA Championship, mentoring young men from Great Mills High, or coaching winning teams at the Olympics, Coach Smith has always championed the idea that success is built on a foundation of integrity and family.
"Coaching doesn't start with X’s and O’s," Coach Smith once said. "It starts with believing that players win games and coaches win players."
Coach Smith may have moved from the Great Mills High School gym to the bright lights of the Final Four, but his heart has always been in St. Mary’s County.
A MAN FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS INFUSED WITH UNWAVERING INTEGRITY
A TRUE SON OF ST. MARY’S COUNTY