Popular Post tgrogan21 6,198 Posted January 22, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 22, 2022 4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rednilla 5,383 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Things keep going the way they have been, it's going to be Bruce Pearl Arena before too long. 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigeraddikt 1,597 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 29 minutes ago, Rednilla said: Things keep going the way they have been, it's going to be Bruce Pearl Arena before too long. Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVR 818 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Here is a nice read on Sonnys recruitment of Charles Barkley. https://auburn.rivals.com/news/charles-barkley-reminisces-on-auburn-recruitment-with-sonny-smith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumps 3,704 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Great article! Thanks for sharing! I watched Barkley dominate Bobby Lee Hurt in the High School all-star tournament in Tuscaloosa and then multiple times after Sir Charles was at Auburn. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr82be 14,421 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Really happy they're doing this so Sonny and his family can be a part of it and enjoy it. Way too many times people are recognized too late. Apologies if that sounds bad the way I put it. I love Sonny. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boisnumber1 2,818 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Sonny is the real deal. Whether you like him or not, he has always been the genuine article. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumps 3,704 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 I love Sonny. He will make you nervous when listening to him on the radio. He doesn't hide that he wants Auburn to win. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
augolf1716 21,101 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 2 minutes ago, Grumps said: He doesn't hide that he wants Auburn to win. Nor should he.. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDUBB4AU 5,109 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 58 minutes ago, Grumps said: I love Sonny. He will make you nervous when listening to him on the radio. He doesn't hide that he wants Auburn to win. This x 100. Never a truer post . It’s hilarious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarNole 141 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 I always liked Sonny and so happy for his honor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumterAubie 3,031 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Suitcase Sonny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SumterAubie 3,031 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 3 hours ago, Grumps said: Great article! Thanks for sharing! I watched Barkley dominate Bobby Lee Hurt in the High School all-star tournament in Tuscaloosa and then multiple times after Sir Charles was at Auburn. Small Change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Tiger 4,261 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 5 hours ago, WVR said: Here is a nice read on Sonnys recruitment of Charles Barkley. https://auburn.rivals.com/news/charles-barkley-reminisces-on-auburn-recruitment-with-sonny-smith My first cousin was Barkley's coach at Leeds High school. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKEEL75 2,566 Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 It is already: The house Bruce built!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigeraddikt 1,597 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 If Sonny gets a banner, does Cliff Ellis? Seems like they accomplished about the same thing overall, although they went about it differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumps 3,704 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Here is the bio of each of them. Ellis' record is better than I had remembered. So much of Sonny getting a banner is also for his role as radio guy for basketball and his personality and representation of the Auburn program. I could see us raising a banner for Ellis at some point, but I am all for honoring Sonny Smith first. He is probably the second best Auburn supporter after Charles Barkley. Sonny Smith was hired by Auburn in the summer of 1978 after the recently hired Paul Lambert died in a hotel fire. Smith took the Auburn job despite returning all of his starters from the year before and moving into a new arena at East Tennessee State.[1] Smith guided Auburn to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1984, led by future Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley. The Tigers were upset in the First Round, however, by the 12th-seeded Richmond Spiders. Smith was named SEC Coach of the Year following the 1984 season. The 1985 regular season was considered a letdown, with the Tigers going 8–10 in conference play. Before the SEC Tournament, Smith announced his plan to retire at the end of the season. However, Smith and tournament MVP Chuck Person led Auburn to its first ever SEC Tournament championship, winning four games in four days for the first time in tournament history. He then coached that team to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1985 NCAA Tournament. Following this success, and despite receiving an offer from his former school, East Tennessee State,[2] Smith decided to remain at Auburn.[3] Smith would go on to lead the Tigers to three more NCAA Tournament appearances, making it as far as the Elite Eight in 1986. This streak of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the longest in Auburn history. Smith was again named SEC Coach of the Year following the 1988 season. Following a losing season in 1989, Smith left Auburn to become the head coach at VCU, citing his doubts that he could return Auburn to the success of the previous five seasons.[4] His record at Auburn was 173–154 (.529). Until 2020, he was the only coach in Auburn men's basketball history to have three consecutive 20-win seasons.[5] Cliff Ellis led the Tigers to the 1999 SEC Championship with a 29–4 record, the most wins ever recorded by a Division I team in the state of Alabama. The Tigers reached the Sweet 16 in 1998–99 and in 2002–03 under Ellis. Ellis coached Auburn to the top three single-season victory marks in school history, with the 1998–99 season, the 1999–2000 season when Auburn went 24–10, and the 2002–03 season where Auburn went 22–12.[6] Ellis claimed his 500th career Division I coaching victory in a 100–71 win over Georgia State November 26, 2002, to become only the 34th coach to reach the milestone since the NCAA started Division I play in 1948–49.[6] A year after going to the Sweet 16, Ellis' Tigers regressed to an overall .500 record and a losing conference record. Auburn fired him after that season.[7] He remained in the Auburn community, where his wife Carolyn ran for a state legislature seat in 2006. His 186 wins are the second-most in Auburn history, behind only Joel Eaves. Ellis finished with a record of 186–125 (.598) at Auburn, trailing only Eaves on the school's all-time wins list. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drsteve87 91 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 I was in Auburn for most of the Sonny Smith years. Those were great times. We’d get to the coliseum early and grab front row seats in the student section. Lots of memories of Barkley, Frank Ford, Gerald White, Chuck Person. That was the golden era of AU sports - baseball, basketball, and football all were competitive and had great coaches. My wife is from Auburn and knew the Smith family well. Sonny’s a great and genuine Auburn man. So happy for him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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