CC: Shaka Smart
Its been an interesting road for Shaka who rose to prominence via regular tournament births at VCU. Many board members will remember his havoc defense in 2013 not being a match for a Michigan squad loaded with NBA talent.
While at VCU Shaka led the team to:
- A final four in 2011
- 5 tournament appearances in 6 years (missed it only in his first year at VCU)
- Two appearances in the round of 32 including the 2013 loss to Michigan
- 6+ 26 Win seasons (yes, its the A-10, but the A-10 was rock solid back then)
Then He Moved to Texas where things didn't go as planned. This is the knock on him, that he struggled with the Longhorns
While at Texas:
- Tournament births 3 out of 6 years, would have been four if not for Covid
- Two third place finishes in the Big 12
- No wins in the tournament though
Then He Left for Marquette Which Was Clearly the Right Move:
- Has locked in his third straight tournament appearance
- Won the Big East last year with a 17-3 mark
- Is No. 10 in the country and plays UConn today
Cultural Fit:
- According to Wikipedia has been described "as a relationship builder and his ability to build team camaraderie"
- Fun Fact: His wife is a professor at Marquette and can therefore fit in with Michigan's education-first narrative
Bottom Line:
- Is not the number one candidate out there (Jay Wright anyone?), but certainly has enough accolades to be considered for this role
- I would put him in a similar bucket to Fred Hoiberg, T.J. Otzelberger
- To the best of my knowledge does not have background issues such as Nate Oates, Will Wade, etc.
Last time we're going to hire Ed Cooley so I am not holding my breath.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:05 AM ^
Why are you so miserable all the time?
March 16th, 2024 at 11:23 AM ^
Martello Towers are defensive structures that were built in the UK as well in it’s colonial possessions during the 19th century.
Phil Martelli is a septuagenarian basketball coach.
I’m willing to make a small bet that we will hire some “nobody” coach with an interesting up and coming feel to him.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:04 AM ^
I was doing my grad work at VCU when Shaka was there (he left the year after I graduated). He was a campus/city celebrity and this would be a home run hire in my biased book.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:09 AM ^
Only if he keeps his head shaved !!
March 16th, 2024 at 10:10 AM ^
I’m waiting for the hello Thad Matta post …
March 16th, 2024 at 10:15 AM ^
What motivation could Shaka Smart possibly have to leave Marquette for Michigan? Basketball is everything at these major non-football schools.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:19 AM ^
This is accurate - they dump of all their revenue cannons and resources into basketball.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:12 AM ^
I agree, but the argument is "UM would pay him more". I believe Smart makes about $3M/yr at Marquette (they're a private school so they don't have to publish the salary). Howard made more than that and you assume Warde would be willing to pay a premium to get a new coach in. So there's a financial bracket UM can hit that a smaller school like MU just can't. I don't think it's huge but UM made the championship game twice in the past decade-ish and MU hasn't come close to that so the ceiling might also appear higher.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:33 AM ^
We really want a guy who won exactly zero tournament games in 6 years at Texas. No, thanks.
And if only we had a thread a few spots down the board to post coaching candidate ideas. But that was too good for this poster. He just had to have his idea seen.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:04 AM ^
I think Smart is a guy you talk to but I just don't love his postseason performance and the fact his Marquette team lost to this UM team in a scrimmage is a bit of a weird red flag.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:10 AM ^
NO NO NO! He failed at Texas, he'll fail here, too.
I'd much rather take a proven mid-major guy.
He's literally that.
March 18th, 2024 at 11:42 AM ^
You beat me to the punch. If Smart is anything, he's a proven mid-major guy.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:11 AM ^
If I see the name Jay Wright one more time on this board I might completely lose my shit.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:20 AM ^
I recommend a cup of coffee instead. Works every time for me.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:31 AM ^
We want the guy Beilein undressed to the tune of twenty-five (!!!) points in the tourney?
March 16th, 2024 at 12:09 PM ^
That's the reason? A game 10 years ago?
March 16th, 2024 at 11:32 AM ^
Being his neighbor (well a few blocks away) I could not do this to my Marquette alum friends and wife.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:53 AM ^
Just make sure you don't buy recruits any Otzelbergers.
March 16th, 2024 at 12:08 PM ^
You'll get lots of hate but the guy could be a trend setter in the clunky slow big ten. We could do way worse than shaka. The listen has come off a bit but he may be great the next big time program go around
March 16th, 2024 at 12:24 PM ^
He shit the bed against Tiny Tom in the tournament last year. No thanks.
March 16th, 2024 at 12:27 PM ^
Tupac Doppelganger
March 16th, 2024 at 12:59 PM ^
Before we ask this star to make a trek to AA, I want to know what he was doing in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down. In certain generations Shaka has a paramount reputation for not handling that kind of activity (walls falling) very well.
March 16th, 2024 at 12:59 PM ^
I think people need to brace for an underwhelming hire. I can't see why any high level coach would come to Michigan. You're signing up to fight one-handed. You could say they'd come for more money -- but most of these coaches could take other jobs that would pay Michigan-level salaries (or better) and without the hurdles.
People said this when we fired Amaker. No one good was going to come to Michigan, because we wouldn't invest in facilities. Well, Beilein did come, and he successfully lobbied for facility upgrades. You hire the right coach and things tend to work themselves out.
Yeah, on top of that, am I the only one who doesn't see Warde making a bold hire and paying a high level coach top dollar?
Apparently Marquette assistant coach DeAndre Haynes is a serious candidate.
Yikes.
Were the tournament "births" labor induced?
This is a friendly reminder that the idea of Shaka Smart is better than actual Shaka Smart.
As a Big East BB fan, he’d be a great hire. Strong coach, who turned around the Marquette program after Wojo, and he did it quickly. Has them in the Big East tourney final without his best player. Won the conference and won the tourney last year as well. Doubt he’d come though. He’s from Wisconsin and seems comfortable there.
And it’s not like Texas is a basketball powerhouse, and he did okay there, relatively.
Fred Hoiberg would be a safe pick. Solid reputation and NBA and NCAA experience.
Smart's gimmick defense has its limitations, just like Beilein's 1-3-1 and Brown's all blitz all the time in FB. We dropped the 1-3-1 when it stopped working and dropped Brown for a more sophisticated DC. Has Smart made the same adjustment since VCU?
Smart hasn’t run the havoc defense in a long time, pretty much since VCU, which was pretty much a full court press concept anyway, but he still has strong defensive teams.
Hard pass. He's great for mid majors and has proven he can't compete at the Power 5 level. If he couldn't win at Texas, what makes you think he can win here?