Paul Battaglia / AP file

Tubby Smith has already led Minnesota to more wins than it had all of last season.

But Smith has restored fans’ hopes. He has made Gophers games “events” again — no small feat in an area that boasts not one major city but two, all four professional sports and big-time college hockey.

The Barn had its first sellout in almost three years for the Jan. 17 Indiana game, then followed it up with another three days later for Michigan State. The rowdy atmosphere is back, too. Students dressed in bright yellow T-shirts declaring “It’s Tubby Time” stand for the entire game, and come up with creative ways to razz opponents. There’s even a group of students who come in animal costumes.

“Tubby just has an aura about him,” said Adam Anderson, who dresses as Clifford the Big Red Dog. “I don’t know what it is. It’s some kind of mystique.”

And it isn’t just the folks in the Twin Cities under his spell. Ralph Sampson III, the 6-foot-11 son of that other Ralph Sampson, will play for the Gophers next year. Smith also has commitments from three other players, including two who are in junior college.

“Our plan is to do the best we can right now,” Smith said. “Does that mean third, fourth, first, second? I don’t know.”

Ten years at one school may as well be a lifetime for a coach, but the Smiths have made a smooth transition to Minnesota. They are immersing themselves in charity work just as they did in Lexington, and are enjoying discovering a new city.

The hardest thing, Donna Smith said, was their decision to downsize. With their three sons grown, the couple traded their seven-bedroom house for a two-bedroom condo.

“I had no idea,” Donna Smith said, laughing. “I thought I was organized. I thought I had an idea of what I was going to keep and how I’m going to give this to so-and-so, and it didn’t work out that way.”

But as her husband likes to tell his players, life is all about change. What matters is how you adapt to it.

“Clearly I miss the people (at Kentucky) and I miss the players, but I’ve got another family here,” Tubby Smith said. “It’s just another chance to touch other peoples’ lives and for me to draw from other people as well. It’s a two-way street: I get a lot from them and, hopefully, I’ll be able to give a lot back.”

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