Brentwood Academy's Hubie Smith, a seven-time state champ, retires as boys basketball coach

Tom Kreager
The Tennessean

It was a decision he wrestled with since the 2018-19 high school basketball season concluded.

Brentwood Academy boys basketball coach Hubie Smith, a 2019 TSSAA Hall of Fame inductee, was pondering retirement.

Smith, 58, told the Brentwood Academy boys team on Tuesday he decided to retire. That announcement came six days after he informed headmaster Curt Masters and athletic director Cody White.

"I told Cody after the season, 'I think I'm done,'" Smith said. "I think it is time. We had Marcus (Fitzgerald) and Randy (Brady) coming back.  

"(White) encouraged me to take my time."

Smith won seven state championships at three different schools. He won five boys championships and two girls titles.

He won over 700 games. He recently coached NBA first-round draft pick Darius Garland and won four straight state titles him.

This team was going to look vastly different than what was on the floor at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Fitzgerald, a Tennessee State commitment, transferred to Pearl-Cohn in August. Brady announced he was leaving the school last week for McEachern (Georgia). Brady was the No. 8 prospect in Tennessee for the Class of 2021 before leaving.

Basketball practice begins Nov. 4.

Smith said he told Brentwood Academy's administration he was retiring prior to Brady's announcement and it had no affect on his decision to retire.

Smith said the decision was a family one. His wife, Dee Anna Smith, was named the  chair of the Pepperdine Board of Regents this summer. She is also the chief executive officer at Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare.

He wants to spend more time with his grandson and has a daughter getting married in  December.

"We will have been married for 30 years in April," Hubie Smith said. "For 30 years, she has given me her full support. 

"My priorities have changed. I give everything I have to what I do."

Smith led Bartlett to the 2001 Class AAA boys basketball state championship. He later won two DII-AA girls titles at Ensworth (2010 and 2013) and four straight at Brentwood Academy from 2015-18. The Eagles finished runner-up last season.

During his coaching tenure, he had several Division I signees, but none the level of Garland.

Smith won over 100 games coaching Ensworth's girls. He was hired at Brentwood Academy after his second girls title.

"He came in at a great time for us," White said. "Obviously, he had a lot of success everywhere he's been.

"He had a massive impact in the basketball community in Nashville. He had incredible success in both boys and girls basketball."

He was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame earlier this year and was named The Tennessean's Coach of the Year in 2018.

Assistant coach Matt Hoppe, a Brentwood Academy alum, has been named the Eagles' interim coach for this season. Smith will remain the Flight Basketball League director at Brentwood Academy for players from kindergarten-eighth grade.

Want to stay informed on the latest high school sports news? A Tennessean subscription gets you unlimited access to the best inside information and updates on local high school sports, and the ability to tap into sports news from throughout the USA TODAY Network's 109 local sites.

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.