Padgett began the 2006-07 season with the Rockets before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he finished out his career.ĭuring his time at Kentucky from 1995-99, Padgett played for legendary head coaches Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith. He played the 2005-06 campaign with the New Jersey Nets. The 6-foot-9 forward recorded 1,142 points in four years with the Jazz before spending the next two seasons with the Houston Rockets. Padgett, a Louisville, Ky., native was a first-round draft pick selected 28th overall by the Utah Jazz in 1999 and spent eight years in the NBA. The Bulldogs steadily improved throughout the campaign and rattled off a five-game winning streak midway through the SoCon season. The Samford University basketball team completed Padgett’s first season as head coach with a 13-19 overall record. With a roster featuring five sophomores and four true freshmen in 2014-15, the future proved to be bright for the Bulldogs’ basketball team. In 2015, Samford’s Jones-Gibson was named a Third-Team All-SoCon performer, while Cunningham and Evan Taylor both earned SoCon All-Freshman Team honors. Padgett, during his first season as head coach at Samford University, compiled 13 wins and six SoCon victories with the Bulldogs.īoasting a roster comprised of just three seniors and a trio of juniors, Padgett guided his young Bulldogs to early success in his initial season heading the program. Hall award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in college basketball. Samford’s double-digit victory on the road at Nebraska proved to be the school’s first triumph against a Big 10 opponent.Īdditionally, the Bulldogs finished the 2015-16 season with a solid 10-5 record against non-conference opponents.įollowing his inaugural campaign as the Bulldogs’ head coach, Padgett was named a finalist for the 2015 Joe B. With talented sophomore point guard Christen Cunningham and All-SoCon performers Darius Jones-Gibson, Matt Rose and Wyatt Walker leading the way, the Bulldogs opened the season with a brilliant 5-1 record and knocked off Nebraska on the road, 69-58, in Lincoln, Neb. In 2015-16, just Padgett’s second season at the helm, Samford vastly improved under his leadership and registered its best win total in six years, dating back to 2009. With its postseason victory over Canisius, Samford reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2005-06 and notched its fifth 20-win posting in 44 years as a Division I athletic department. Terry Brutus, the Bulldogs’ lone senior on the squad last season, finished the 2016-17 campaign with an average of 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 28 games. Under Padgett’s direction, Samford won its first postseason game in school history last season against Canisius in the 2017 College Postseason Tournament, 78-74, and will return a predominant portion of last year’s roster in 2017-18, including all five starters. Samford’s totals this year well surpassed the school’s previous records of 564 and 543, respectively. The Bulldogs also set single-season team records in free throws (645) and assist (581). ![]() The Bulldogs accumulated a school-record 2,834 points and shattered the previous record of 2,335, which was set during the 1970-71 campaign.Īdditionally, Samford totaled 2,038 field-goal attempts a mark that is 54 attempts more than the previous all-time record of 1,984 that was set 47 years ago in 1969-70. Samford also set a number of school records last year, including points, field-goal attempts, free throws and assists. Samford concluded the 2016-17 campaign with its most victories in 11 years (20), as well as the Bulldogs’ first winning season since 2005-06. He is a players-first coach and an outstanding role model for our student-athletes.” He exemplifies the mission of this great university. Scott is a tremendous asset to our university and community. He is a proven winner and has done so at every stage of his college and NBA playing career, and now in his coaching career. ![]() “Scott has brought a tremendous work ethic, passion and winning culture to our basketball program. “I'm thrilled to announce a five-year extension for Coach Padgett,” said Samford Director of Athletics Martin Newton. On July 3, 2017, Padgett signed a five-year contract extension that protracted his deal to now last throughout the 2021-22 campaign. On June 6, 2014, he was officially named the 28 th head basketball coach at Samford University.Īs one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the nation, Padgett has quickly transformed the Bulldogs’ basketball team into a Southern Conference championship competitor and rapidly revamped Samford’s recruiting efforts turning the beautiful, head-turning Southern university to a destination campus. Scott Padgett, the former collegiate standout at the University of Kentucky, NCAA champion and first-round NBA draft pick, is in the midst of his fifth season as head coach of the Samford Bulldogs and his sixth as a member of the program.
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