Memphis hiring Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith

— -- Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith has agreed to be the men's basketball coach at Memphis.

Smith called Red Raiders athletic director Kirby Hocutt to tell him he was accepting the Tigers job, Texas Tech senior associate athletic director Robert Giovannetti told ESPN's Andy Katz on Thursday.

The 64-year-old Smith had three years remaining on his contract at Texas Tech, and he is obligated to pay a $900,000 buyout to the school.

Memphis announced that it will hold a 1 p.m. ET news conference at FedExForum to introduce its new coach but did not identify the hire. The Tigers are replacing Josh Pastner, who left to be the head coach at Georgia Tech last week.

With Smith taking the Memphis job, the American Athletic Conference has added a former national-championship-winning coach in Smith, a former NBA Coach of the Year in Mike Dunleavy ( Tulane) and former Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins ( Central Florida) in the past few weeks.

Smith received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching award Friday in Los Angeles. He is one of two coaches, along with Lon Kruger, to lead five schools to the NCAA tournament.

He coached at Kentucky from 1997 to 2007, leading the Wildcats to the national title in 1998 and 10 straight NCAA appearances. He coached Minnesota to the NCAA tournament in 2013 before abruptly being fired.

He led Texas Tech to the NCAA tournament last month in his third season in Lubbock.

Smith previously coached at Georgia for two seasons and Tulsa for four.

Memphis is considered a top-25 job among college basketball coaches and administrators for its proximity to talent, its facilities and its storied history.

ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman and ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.