by Jeff Goodman

Now in his brief tenure at Minnesota, Smith has already made huge waves on the recruiting trail that previous coaches in the program were unable to accomplish.

There aren't a ton of high-level players that come out of the state, and most of them have opted to go elsewhere.

Troy Bell left for Boston College and had a terrific college career. Khalid El-Amin left and excelled at UConn. Darius Lane turned out to have an impressive career at Seton Hall. More recently, Cole Aldrich got away and could wind up being a star at Kansas.

Kris Humphries went to Minnesota, but only after it didn't work out with Duke. Rick Rickert didn't want to play at the home-state school, but his father didn't really give him another option.

Smith, a year after securing a legitimate Top 25 national recruiting class, has gotten commitments from two elite in-state players who will be in the conversation when the McDonald's All-American voting comes around next year.

I'm not saying they will be in the game, but they are high-caliber players and Smith beat out some big-time schools for their services.

First it was forward Royce White out of Hopkins High, who is ranked 19th overall in the Class of 2009 by Rivals.com. Then over the weekend, the Gophers landed ultra-athletic forward Rodney Williams, who checks in at No. 32 overall in Scout.com's rankings.

"So many kids were able to leave the area and be successful," said Rene Pulley, who runs the top summer program in the state. "The previous staffs weren't able to keep the best kids home."

"These two kids were born and raised here and really want to be here," added Pulley, who is also a Minnesota native. "This is the most excited I can remember people being about the program in a long, long time."

Smith, 57, won 20 games in his rookie season at Minnesota, and although he lost his top three scorers, he's already significantly upgraded the talent level after bringing in a five-man class this season that includes Ralph Sampson III (yes, it's Ralph Sampson's kid), Canadian scorer Devoe Joseph, talented South Dakota big man Colton Iverson and a pair of junior college teammates — sophomore forward Paul Carter and junior guard Devron Bostick.

Smith deflected the credit to his staff: Ron Jirsa, Vince Taylor and his son, Saul Smith.

"We felt like we've been able to get a lot done since we've gotten here," Tubby Smith said. "We're excited, but the foundation was laid by the previous staff. We're very fortunate to land the class we landed last year. They are all talented, but more importantly, they are all high-character young men. It just fell into place."

"It's just an amazing turn of events," added Smith. "We're excited, but they've got to produce."

Smith said he didn't pay much attention to what was written about him in his tenure at Kentucky. He won the national title in his first season in Lexington, but critics justified it with the caveat that it came with Rick Pitino's players. Then, while North Carolina, Duke and Kansas loaded up with McDonald's All-Americans year after year, Smith became the scapegoat for the lack of ultimate success in Lexington.

While Smith didn't hang any more banners in Rupp, he does have a resume that includes four Elite Eight appearances and nine Sweet 16s. His teams have won at least 20 games in 14 consecutive seasons, and he has a 69-percent winning percentage when it matters most — in the NCAA tournament.

The bottom line is that the guy can flat out coach, and he'll likely get the same caliber of players in Minnesota that he was able to lure to Kentucky.

"That's good enough to win here," Pulley said. "He doesn't have to necessarily get McDonald's All-Americans. He just has to keep the top players home and then do what he does best — find players that fit his style."

So far, it's worked out.