Shaka smart leaves vcu, headed to texas.

[The Mad Hatter]

I think Shaka is going to be very successful in Austin. He has all the tools he needs to build exceptional teams. He's alreday been pulling in multiple top 100 guy the last few years at VCU. Great hire for UT. I feel terrible for VCU though... That could easily of been us.

The problem is that Texas just fired a guy who consistently brought in great recruiting classes, but couldn't win a conference championship in forever. Shaka has the Final Four run 5 years ago, but like Barnes has failed to win a conference championship or advance in the tournament since then in spite of pulling good recruits.

[ShockerPrez]

I dislike Smart. I dislike Texas.

Perfect fit. Overrated pair in an overrated conference.

[Rlh04d]

Shame to see.

[MadaboutWu]

Could anyone who knows how to find the information pull the rpi's of Texas and VCU for the last 5 years or point me to a site which does so?

I was talking to a BCS fool who wouldn't believe that VCU might have been better than Texas over that time frame.

[capnkirk]

Vcu message board still down. Is it an epic meltdown that scrambled the board with too many users? Or did the admin pull the plug kinda like KU board does after a loss?

[jdshock]

Could anyone who knows how to find the information pull the rpi's of Texas and VCU for the last 5 years or point me to a site which does so?

I was talking to a BCS fool who wouldn't believe that VCU might have been better than Texas over that time frame.

I could be wrong, but here is what I found:

VCU
2014-2015 Rank 14
2013-2014 Rank 12
2012-2013 Rank 24
2011-2012 Rank 39
2010-2011 Rank 53
Average: 28.4

Texas
2014-2015 Rank 42
2013-2014 Rank 37
2012-2013 Rank 115
2011-2012 Rank 48
2010-2011 Rank 8
Average: 50

I grabbed all the end of year RPI's from here: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask.../RPI/groupId/8

[MadaboutWu]

@jdshock: thanks very much both for the link and for running it for me.

[pinstripers]

Jeff ******* @GoodmanESPN
· 1h 1 hour ago
Shaka Smart already getting after it since taking the Texas job. Called and offered Vermont Academy guard Bruce Brown a scholarship.

[Dan]

Shaka is a better coach than Rick Barnes. Couple that with the recruiting power of Texas and I believe he will do great there. The best kids in Texas want to play at UT. He'll have his pick of the kids that are right for his system. I can't wait to see him break Bill Self's conference championship streak.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I'm torn. I hate to see a fellow non-P5 lose its coach (even if it's VCU), but I SO want to see Texas stick its foot in KU's ass--and with Shaka they can do it.

[WstateU]

I listened to Jason King yesterday on 810 (KC); he didn't think Shaka was a good fit at Texas and mentioned AD Patterson and his NBA track record. He was surprised that Patterson didn't visit with coach Marshall; he said Marshall would have likely taken the job, however he then backed-peddled and said maybe he wouldn't have after seeing Marshall’s 3mm plus deal. He didn't think Shaka's style would fit well at Texas; he mentioned 5-star players are looking for their ticket to the 'NBA' and they won't want to play 'HAVOC' defense.

I don't think Shaka will fail, however I'll be surprised if he does much better than Barnes. I'm also not sure coach Marshall and his family (Lynn) would have been a good fit in Austin? I have nothing against the state of Texas and Texans; they're a different breed of cat. :)

[SPEShockAlum]

I listened to Jason King yesterday on 810 (KC); he didn't think Shaka was a good fit at Texas and mentioned AD Patterson and his NBA track record. He was surprised that Patterson didn't visit with coach Marshall; he said Marshall would have likely taken the job, however he then backed-peddled and said maybe he wouldn't have after seeing Marshall’s 3mm plus deal. He didn't think Shaka's style would fit well at Texas; he mentioned 5-star players are looking for their ticket to the 'NBA' and they won't want to play 'HAVOC' defense.

I don't think Shaka will fail, however I'll be surprised if he does much better than Barnes. I'm also not sure coach Marshall and his family (Lynn) would have been a good fit in Austin? I have nothing against the state of Texas and Texans; they're a different breed of cat. :)

The Marshalls do love cats.

[wusphlash]

I'm not convinced this will work. Shaka runs a gimmick system (havoc). Will the 5-star recruits demanded by Texas supporters be willing to play a gimmick system. I think, as someone previously mentioned, Shaka will have to do some changing himself.

[kcshocker11]

Never a good day when a non P5 coach goes to the money kingdom

[shocka khan]

I'm waiting for UT alums to launch their own brand of HAVOC on Shaka. He'll be so $hell$hocked, he won't know what hit him.