Menu
What's new
By:
Filters
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

Shaka Smart, Shaka Stupid or Shaka Khan

fervorfactor

Active Member
Illinois wants him at $2.5 M. He turned it down. He has 8 players coming back next year at VCU. He faced up Barkeley on his weight loss program for some bucks. This guy will land some place next year. I wonder who will offer him. Likely big bucks.
 
Pretty sure he made a decision cause the Illini are going to be in full rebuilding mode... Bad situation
 
It could be a Tad Boyle kind of situation, where he's exactly where he wants to be and has no desire to leave.
 
sackman said:
It could be a Tad Boyle kind of situation, where he's exactly where he wants to be and has no desire to leave.
Click to expand...

This is what it is. VCU stepping up to the plate last year and giving him big-time loot for a mid-major certainly helps the situation as well. VCU also has more of a devoted following (thanks to recent years) and nicer facilities than you would probably imagine. The Siegel Center is a nice venue.
 
The fact Illinois couldn't get him speaks leaps and bounds with the money they offered, but let's keep in mind that Illinois is a 'pretty good' basketball school, by no means elite. They have some facility issues and their tradition isn't as great as many seem to currently believe. Shaka is a Wisconsin native (Milwaukee area) who also has strong ties to Ohio. Bo Ryan may not be at Wisconsin much longer, but the safe bet on the Badgers' first choice for Ryan's replacement will be Tony Bennett of Virginia. Baring something drastically changing at a place like Indiana, Ohio State or Michigan State over the next few years, I highly doubt Smart will leave. Smart clearly loves VCU - and he's undeniably building something extremely special there. Remember, VCU has no football team. VCU basketball is THE athletic event on campus.

As I mentioned, the facilities at VCU are decent as well (Siegel Center is solid. Seats over 7k, relatively new, - awesome atmosphere in there, especially these days). VCU is also in a fantastic recruiting location. He's right in/near the hotbed of the best Virginia athletes (and VA athletes are often very elite) while also being within easy proximity of grabbing talent right up and down I-95 (NYC, Philly, Baltimore, North Carolina, Florida). He also has the fortune of playing his conference tournament a couple blocks from campus at the Richmond Coliseum. That never hurts your chances when you basically have a home crowd to push you on to conference championships and at-large bids.

It's refreshing to see a coach do this and playing his cards right. He's making $1.2 million right now. He's happy. Some schools might double that up, but Smart is also wise enough to know that 80% of the time they end up like recently fired South Carolina coach Darrin Horn. It would have to be the perfect fit, and he may already be at that perfect fit. It's one accomplishment to arrive at a powerhouse and continue the dominance. It's another far greater accomplishment to arrive at a Colonial Athletic Association school and turn them into a perennial Final Four contender.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aik
This is unpossible. The Big 1G is a very, very important basketball conference.
 
CVilleBuff said:
The fact Illinois couldn't get him speaks leaps and bounds with the money they offered, but let's keep in mind that Illinois is a 'pretty good' basketball school, by no means elite. They have some facility issues and their tradition isn't as great as many seem to currently believe. Shaka is a Wisconsin native (Milwaukee area) who also has strong ties to Ohio. Bo Ryan may not be at Wisconsin much longer, but the safe bet on the Badgers' first choice for Ryan's replacement will be Tony Bennett of Virginia. Baring something drastically changing at a place like Indiana, Ohio State or Michigan State over the next few years, I highly doubt Smart will leave. Smart clearly loves VCU - and he's undeniably building something extremely special there. Remember, VCU has no football team. VCU basketball is THE athletic event on campus.

As I mentioned, the facilities at VCU are decent as well (Siegel Center is solid. Seats over 7k, relatively new, - awesome atmosphere in there, especially these days). VCU is also in a fantastic recruiting location. He's right in/near the hotbed of the best Virginia athletes (and VA athletes are often very elite) while also being within easy proximity of grabbing talent right up and down I-95 (NYC, Philly, Baltimore, North Carolina, Florida). He also has the fortune of playing his conference tournament a couple blocks from campus at the Richmond Coliseum. That never hurts your chances when you basically have a home crowd to push you on to conference championships and at-large bids.

It's refreshing to see a coach do this and playing his cards right. He's making $1.2 million right now. He's happy. Some schools might double that up, but Smart is also wise enough to know that 80% of the time they end up like recently fired South Carolina coach Darrin Horn. It would have to be the perfect fit, and he may already be at that perfect fit. It's one accomplishment to arrive at a powerhouse and continue the dominance. It's another far greater accomplishment to arrive at a Colonial Athletic Association school and turn them into a perennial Final Four contender.
Click to expand...

You've hit on most of it, I think. With their Final Four run last year, VCU has made themselves a "name" program like Gonzaga. They will now get more respect when it comes to getting into the tournament and getting a higher seed than a similarly situated mid-major. They also have an advantage in recruiting. Why would you go to a marginal power conference team where the expectations will be super high and you'll likely get fired in two or three years when you can stay at a very well situated mid-major, have fairly easy access to the tournament every year, and where you have as much rope as you need? You turn down an extra 1mm a year for a likely 2 or 3 years, but you more than make that up by coaching at a very good salary at the mid-major for 10 years.
 
sackman said:
It could be a Tad Boyle kind of situation, where he's exactly where he wants to be and has no desire to leave.
Click to expand...

I think the same. Tad isn't leaving as long as the money is competitive and Shaka has a great thing going. His only problem is a one bid conference into the dance. As far as basketball coaching, I haven't seen anyone better than him at what, 35 years old? Love his pressure style of play with less talented guys.
 
Cville why do you think ryan would leave wisco? He came up through plattville and kinda see him as a wisco guy for life
 
tante said:
Cville why do you think ryan would leave wisco? He came up through plattville and kinda see him as a wisco guy for life
Click to expand...

He's certainly a Wisconsin guy for life. I was referring to him retiring within the next few years. He's in his mid-60's (about the same age as DBT's son, I believe) and isn't the type of guy who's going to drag this out to 75+. When he hangs it up in 3-5 years, Tony Bennett will be target number one for the Badgers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top