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American Stories: Smith Was Memphis’ Most Prized Recruit

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Tubby Smith had what he thought was his retirement job. Then Memphis came calling, and the future Hall-of-Famer simply couldn’t say no

The American Athletic Conference has successfully built its football brand by hiring bright young coordinators like Tom Herman, Philip Montgomery, Chad Morris, Scott Frost, Scottie Montgomery and Bob Diaco, who were rising stars in the profession.

Men's basketball is taking a different approach, hiring established coaches with proven credentials at the NBA or NCAA level in an effort to rejuvenate their programs.

UCF hired Johnny Dawkins, the former Duke All-American and NBA veteran guard who was an assistant at his alma mater and a head coach at Stanford.