LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tubby Smith could be in the NBA, maybe should be, with his folksy demeanor, class and stern structure.

He is as tied into the league as any high-profile coach, assisting the 2000 gold-medal Olympic team with Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, Sixers coach Larry Brown and Purdue coach Gene Keady. He has already reached the pinnacle of college coaching, winning a national title -- in his first season at Kentucky no less.

	Tubby Smith has ties to the NBA, but Kentucky is where he wants to coach for the foreseeable future.

He has been at Kentucky four seasons, which equals his longest Division I coaching tenure with his time spent in Tulsa. And his son, Saul, just graduated, leaving him without a family tie to the 2001-02 Wildcats. The latter really means nothing, but for those trying to beat and recruit against Smith, they hoped it meant he was ready to bolt.

"Everybody thought when Saul left that that was his (coach Smith's) chance to go," Kentucky senior Tayshaun Prince said. "I don't know if that weighed on his decision or not about going to the NBA, but I'm glad he's here. He's a great teacher of the game. I just knew he would be my coach for all four years."

But, what is there left for Smith to do?

Plenty, largely because Smith has no reason to leave arguably the best job in college basketball (at least in terms of tradition, talent and fan base -- but not practice facilities. See Florida for those). Come March, the Wildcats might end up being the best team, which isn't a bad reason to stay put, either. The roster is so loaded that impact freshman freshman Rashaad Carruth, who most of the country lined up for, isn't a lock to get on the court.

And besides, winning one national title doesn't create a legacy. Two or three is when it starts to get historical.

"I've never applied for a job, never gone out of my way to get one," Smith said. "My dad always told me that the best job is the one you have. And if you do it well, everybody will want you. I've turned down more jobs than I could have ever taken in my life. I focus on that one job and put the blinders on."

Smith said he planned on putting down deep roots in Tulsa and thought he'd still be there today. He said the success of his tenure (79-43 in four years and two Sweet 16 appearances) could still be seen today. But the Georgia job opened up in 1995, and the opportunity was too good to turn his back on (note also other coaches who have bolted Tulsa -- Bill Self, Steven Robinson and Buzz Peterson -- for similar jobs). Moving from Georgia, where he led the Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths, including a Sweet 16 in '96, to Kentucky was also a no-brainer when Rick Pitino left for the Celtics a season after winning the 1996 national title.

"I planned on being in Athens (Ga.) today," Smith said of his two-year tenure. "I expect to be in Kentucky forever, but unfortunately life changes and people change and situations change. I'd love to be somewhere as long as Jud Heathcote was at Michigan State, or Dean Smith at North Carolina, or Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, or John Chaney at Temple, or Lute Olson at Arizona."

	“	I've never applied for a job, never gone out of my way to get one. My dad always told me that the best job is the one you have. And if you do it well, everybody will want you. I've turned down more jobs than I could have ever taken in my life. ”
		— Tubby Smith, Kentucky head coach

So, someday can someone add, "like Tubby Smith at Kentucky?"

"You don't leave jobs like UCLA or Arizona or Kentucky or Duke or North Carolina for anywhere else except for the NBA, maybe," Smith said. "I plan on being here."

And while Smith said opposing recruiters are using the lure of the NBA as a negative against him, he said he doesn't mind his staff pushing his direct ties to the NBA. Kentucky recruits NBA-level players and wants them to know they've got a pipeline to the league. That's one reason that could have affected the decision of Wabash Valley (Ill.) JC guard Antwain Barbour to choose Kentucky and sign in November.

"Where else are players going to go?" Smith said. "They know I worked with Rudy T. and was with Rod Thorn (the Nets GM) and talk to Jerry Sloan (Jazz) and Pete Babcock (Hawks). They know we deliver players better than anyone by helping them become better people. We've been fortunate that the players who have left Kentucky have gone on to be not just good players, but good citizens."

And, like an NBA coach, Smith isn't concerned with the egos on his team. He's got potential pros in Prince, guard Keith Bogans and center Jules Camara. The hyped-up Carruth and center Marvin Stone could make a case to start, but they might have to come off the bench this season.

"Guys want to play," Smith said. "But you can't take time away from Tayshaun or Keith. I always tell guys that there are different ways you can contribute and use your expertise in a game. Maybe you're our best 3-point shooter or a good zone player or a good pressing player.

"That's where we are," said Smith, simply telling it honestly how this team breaks down. "Tayshaun and Keith are our most experienced players. They're going to play. We'll have to find time for Erik Daniels or Marquis (Estill) or Marvin or Jules or Gerald. I mean Keith Bogans is a first-round pick. Tayshaun is a lottery pick. We recruit the type of kids that know they're coming into this. We never told them they're going to start, and yet Keith Bogans and Cliff Hawkins keep coming."

The depth that Smith rattles off with Bogans and Carruth at shooting guard; Cliff Hawkins and J.P. Blevins at the point (the soft spot where Hawkins is more physical but has to play under control, and Blevins softer but not as productive); an inside game of Prince, Camara, Stone, Estill and Chuck Hayes (Jason Parker is out for the year with a torn ACL); and somewhere on the floor for Daniels and Fitch; gives Smith the personnel to go for a title. Potential pros litter the roster ... Prince, Bogans, Camara, maybe Stone and it's too early to judge Carruth.

"You need four guys who are first-round picks to win it all," Smith said. "It used to be you needed two, but now you need three or four. To get to the Final Four you at least need two. To be in the Elite Eight, you need at least one, maybe more."

Smith said Kentucky "would have arrived sooner" had the Wildcats possessed a frontline of Stone, Camara, Parker, the late John Stewart, who collapsed and died during a 1999 high school playoff game, and embattled Michael Southall, who Smith turned away after the recruit pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug charges in 2000.

"Recruiting had to be revamped after '98, and then Michael Bradley left, and those things happen," Smith said. "But we've got a new regime and gotten back to the point where we should be."

For Kentucky, that means competing for a national title. And, for now, that means with Smith as head coach, slapping away any NBA offers nipping at him.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.