Kentucky men?s basketball coach Tubby Smith was recently honored with the 2005 Literacy Champion Award by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Smith, who just completed his eighth season at Kentucky, established the Tubby Smith Foundation in 1997 to assist underprivileged youth in the central Kentucky area.

The Literacy Champion Award recognizes a coach who has used the game of basketball, his program and his players to promote to children the importance of reading, writing and technological skills. The award acknowledges the coach whose teaching and leadership are generally thought to occur on the basketball court, but who uses his position to enhance literacy in children.

In January 2003, the Tubby Smith Foundation teamed with Dell computers, along with several area businesses, to develop ?Tubby?s Clubhouses.? The clubhouses, established at five different community centers in Lexington, house 20 refurbished Dell computers to serve at-risk middle school students through a 40-hour after-school technology training program.

Two hundred at-risk youths are expected to graduate from the ?Dell TechKnow Program? during the 2004-05 school year. The first group of graduates was recognized at a UK basketball game this past season.

Past recipients of the NABC Literacy Champion Award include Duke?s Mike Krzyzewski, Purdue?s Gene Keady, Springfield College?s Charlie Brock and ESPN?s Fran Fraschilla.