He emerged from a corner near the visitors dressing room Friday morning, just a few minutes before a jersey bearing his name was unveiled in the rafters. Unprompted except by the sight of him and their own memories, thousands of spectators rose in staggered waves to applaud a coach they had not always treated so warmly.
It was a homecoming long overdue and sweetly satisfying.
“He needed to know,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said,” what people here think of him.”
Fifteen seasons since he left UK to decidedly mixed reviews, the 70-year old Smith came back to Lexington as the head coach at his alma mater, High Point University, for a game scheduled essentially as an excuse to honor him. He became the 44th individual to earn a commemorative jersey at Rupp Arena, right before Kentucky overwhelmed his Panthers by 44 points, 92-48.
