Shaka Smart waiting for greener pastures down...

[HeismanWatch]

the road?

He signed a $1.2M deal with potential bonuses at VCU, which was nothing compared to what NCState could have thrown his way. They could have easily added another $1M to that that offer.

Who would he be interested in outside of VCU?

 

[Sawyer]

His new deal pisses me off.

It's less than Missouri's paying Frank Haith, and Mike Alden didn't even bother talking to Smart.

If Mizzou can't have him, though, I'm hoping for Shaka to have a long, successful career at VCU. I like seeing multiple good mid-majors, and he's at a school that could actually have some sustained success.

 

[colston15]

Haith and Smart are very similar, actually. Their teams shoot a bunch of three pointers and play very little defense. Haith is just older.

 

[Sawyer]

And Smart's been to a final four.

And Smart would actually draw positive attention from the media and recruits, compared to the unified WTF? coming from all angles right now about Haith.

If you could rewind seven years, though, Haith's profile was probably similar to Smart's was prior to the final four run. The sole glimmer of hope with this hire is that Miami was just a toxic environment for any basketball coach (Leonard Hamilton was the only other coach who did anything there, and he's been much better at Florida State than he was at Miami... maybe Haith will also improve).

 

[AdaSooner]

Maybe it's not about the money for Shaka Smart, just as the lure of a bigger paycheck could not persuade Brad Stevens to take another job right now. Those guys are young and they have plenty of time to explore what it's like to coach at a major program where the pressures are far greater than coaching at schools like VCU and Buter. Why be in a hurry to dive into the bottomless pit of major college basketball filled with vipers nipping at your heels?

 

[5hrenergy]

And Smart's been to a final four.

And Smart would actually draw positive attention from the media and recruits, compared to the unified WTF? coming from all angles right now about Haith.

If you could rewind seven years, though, Haith's profile was probably similar to Smart's was prior to the final four run. The sole glimmer of hope with this hire is that Miami was just a toxic environment for any basketball coach (Leonard Hamilton was the only other coach who did anything there, and he's been much better at Florida State than he was at Miami... maybe Haith will also improve).

It's going to be interesting to see how Smart's teams perform over the next couple of years because let's be honest, there is a good argument that his team didn't play well enough over the course of the season to be in the tournament. His team got on a very hot run and he's enjoying the benefits of it. Not too mention his team was mostly recruited by Anthony Grant.

Now with that said Smart could end up being a great young coach, but I think he's getting way too much credit nationally for his team getting really hot from behind the 3 pt line for a few games.