On April 3,I wrote an article in an attempt to coax North Carolina State University to hire Shaka Smart as quickly as possible.
On April 4 Debbie Yow, Athletic Director of State, gave Smart an offer he simply couldn’t refuse reportedly worth 2 million dollars a year.
Unfortunately, he refused.
Smart, who was making 375,000 dollars a year, decided instead to remain at his Colonial Athletic Association school of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Now I understand that the task of coaching with the likes of Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams may appear daunting, any self-respecting coach would be up to the challenge.
Just because you take charges like a man doesn’t mean you are one.
Now this rant is all based on the fact that I’m assuming that Smart pans out. In all honesty, he’s only coached two seasons at VCU and hasn’t finished higher than fourth-place in the CAA.
George Mason coach Jim Larranaga also made a miraculous Final Four run – his successes since then? Two NCAA appearances without going farther than the second round in five years.
If this is the road to Hall-of-Fame Coaching, then by all means, Shaka Smart made the right call by sticking true to VCU.
Now I understand Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall’s decision to refuse NC State’s offer as well.
The man has been coaching mid-major schools for almost thirteen years, and is clearly quite happy doing so.
But you, Shaka, could have been something great. In only two short years you could have gone from coaching a perennial bubble team to a contender in a major conference.
Imagine if Coach K had refused the job at Duke and instead spent the rest of his coaching days at Army. We would have missed out on a man considered by many as the greatest college coach of all time.
The decision for Smart to stay at VCU not only hurts the Wolfpack faithful, but also college basketball as a whole.
Shaka Smart could have had a faithful, loyal, red-and-black-clad fan base by his side. He could have gone down as one of the greatest coaches the game had ever see, but for now the college basketball world is deprived of that because of one not-so-Smart decision.
Will Bennett is a remarkable staff writer who was recruited from his early days. In fact, before Bennett could even speak, the Mycenaean took serious interest in him. While many consider this practice to be unethical, the Leesville editors disagree. Alex Stewart claims that his contributions to the staff have been “Pullitzer Prize” worthy.
In addition to his writing, Bennett enjoys animals, Freshberry Frozen Yogurt, Hip-hop music, and long walks on the beach. He can often be found on his seaside estate composing original music, writing moving poetry, and balling with old basketball greats like Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.