Whoa big coaching news today
- Thread starter JD1976
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Good move for Shaka, staying a step ahead of the posse.
Exactly this. He’ll do much better at a smaller place that still has the profile to allow him to recruit at a high level. You have to be a masochist to coach at one of those super universities due to all the off court politics involved. I doubt Smart will mind the switch.
Marquette RUMORED to have 3rd largest basketball budget after Kentucky and Duke
They’re definitely serious about basketball but coaching at a huge state school is an entirely different animal. He’ll face pressure at Marquette but nothing close to what he dealt with at Texas
Honestly I think Marquette might be a better job.
though Texas is building a fancy new arena that might change that. Not sure what Marquette’s setup looks like now with the Bucks new arena over there.
though Texas is building a fancy new arena that might change that. Not sure what Marquette’s setup looks like now with the Bucks new arena over there.
This is very true. Any coach at Texas is already on the hot seat. It’s win and win quickly.
I don’t recall if it was Del Conte who hired Smart in the first place, but he is known to be a pretty intense AD. I’m sure him and Shaka had some tough conversations over the last few years about the state of the program and the long-term writing was already on the wall for Smart. Plus, those boosters don’t mess around at UT. That isn’t an easy situation for anyone even in good times.
They play at the Fiserv Arena that the Bucks use. I saw some pictures when it opened a few years ago and it looked like a pretty great spot.
Like my good friend who made a career of Coaching often says,
"As a Coach I was able to make everybody happy. Some when I came, and some when I left."
Shaka making everyone happy.
"As a Coach I was able to make everybody happy. Some when I came, and some when I left."
Shaka making everyone happy.
Yeah. I know they play at the Bucks new arena - at least for a decent number of games. Wasn’t sure if they had a practice facility there, as well, but it looks like they’re still using their current on-campus practice facility. Looks pretty good, though.
Texas’ new arena renderings are spectacular though, and it’ll open in the new coach’s second year. That’ll be a selling point for them.
Any equity Shaka built up with the Longhorn faithful, Abilene Christian destroyed that and more in 40 minutes.
The court doubles as a bingo hall and cafeteria to make whatever the local favorite is to sell
Fiserv is terrific and they have a great practice facility (The Al McGuire Center) on campus. Huge fan base and a great atmosphere.
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Fun day , my son who is now a Doctor , Dixon was coach at the time, we lost got free UNC shirts and gave them away to his classmates who were closet UNC fans
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Texas calling Rick Pitino as we speak to see if he is willing to trade “Heaven” in New Rochelle NY for Austin plus $9,000,000 per year
I think he'll do very well there. In the interim maybe the Texas hoops team will be coached by Sarkisian. Money saving measure.
Heard this on Cook/Starkey while driving today and they seemed truly puzzled by it. I thought, “Jamie Dixon.” Definitely seems like a “get out while the getting’s good” type of move.
And by "it" you mean life in general... why anyone listens to those dopes is beyond my understanding.
Not sure what they would be puzzled by, Smart had not delivered what Texas had hoped for by any stretch of the imagination and his job was in serious jeopardy. He made a good move leaving on his own terms before he was fired.
I assume Cook and Starkey probably don’t really follow college basketball on a national basis and have no real clue how the Texas program has fared under Shaka Smart.
They just saw it as leaving for a “lesser” job, which it was. But, yes, they had no sense that his job may have been in jeopardy. TBH, if it was in serious jeopardy, I hadn’t heard that either, but I’m not following Texas hoops closely. I was fully aware that Shaka was the “hot coach” when hired and hadn’t delivered what Texas had hoped. I did think it was fairly obvious that he was getting out before getting fired, though.
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Not sure it's a lesser job, Marquette spends more on hoops than Texas
Good question, both schools ran off coaches for underachieving but Marquette paid the buyout , think both schools want to win but the conference Texas is in makes expectations tad more
Shaka was at Texas 6 years, went to 3 NCAAs and went 0-3 with losses to Northern Iowa, Nevada, and Abilene Christian. That won't cut it there. After a #3 seed and winning the Big 12, you just can't lose to an instate 14 seed.
He definitely lived up to his last name with this career move.
Texas is a pretty sweet gig. The expectations there aren't overwhelming, but you have to at least throw them a bone every now and then.
That's going to be very interesting with the Texas & OU job open at the same time, not to mention IU. Pitino's name is already being thrown out there in the media. Can't wait to see if anyone kicks the tires on Ricky P, or if he turns out to be this cycle's Hugh Freeze - all specualation and no genuine interest. (He's older than John Beilein, fwiw)
If I were the Horns, I would try to money whip Billy Donovan to Austin, but at this point in his career, that may not be possible.
He definitely lived up to his last name with this career move.
Texas is a pretty sweet gig. The expectations there aren't overwhelming, but you have to at least throw them a bone every now and then.
That's going to be very interesting with the Texas & OU job open at the same time, not to mention IU. Pitino's name is already being thrown out there in the media. Can't wait to see if anyone kicks the tires on Ricky P, or if he turns out to be this cycle's Hugh Freeze - all specualation and no genuine interest. (He's older than John Beilein, fwiw)
If I were the Horns, I would try to money whip Billy Donovan to Austin, but at this point in his career, that may not be possible.
May not be possible? 0% chance Billy Donovan would consider Texas. He's one of the better coaches in the NBA and he just signed a long term deal with Chicago. If he'd even consider returning to college, there'd be far better programs than Texas throwing bags of money at him.
I think he signed a deal for 4 years at only $6 million a year. I think Texas would pay considerably more, with more years. Billy D has made so much already and might prefer the pro game right now. College is somewhat of a circus.
That’s surprising to me, didn’t know that.
Someone mentioned Beilien. I wonder if anyone is interested in him and whether he’s interested in going back to college hoops.
