Somebody Is Already Churning Out Shaka Smart, Charlie Strong Longhorns Shirts

Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart was finally chased down, speared and hauled off to the power conference lodge house.

News began bubbling about Smart's potential departure the minute his team got bounced from the NCAA round of 64, and VCU sports information director Scott Day confirmed Thursday that the school's highly sought-after coach had accepted the head coaching job at the University of Texas, according to The Associated Press, via Fox Sports.

Smart's decision to leave VCU seemed inevitable. He's spent the last several years parrying aggressive poaching attempts from large, cash-wealthy programs and will now undertake the task of returning Texas' underwhelming basketball team to legitimate contender status.

The 37-year-old coach is just the latest addition to Austin's bustling community of resurrection specialists, joining second-year Texas football coach Charlie Strong—another recently hired miracle worker whose last name also doubles as a positive descriptor.

Thus we have "Smart" and "Strong" at Texas—a branding opportunity realized by people with two neurons to rub together and ESPN's Darren Rovell. Shortly after news broke of Smart's departure, Rovell tweeted to his 585,000 followers that someone should try to make some money off this coincidence.

Then Rovell co-opted a pun.

And wouldn't you know? After all that, someone did pump out a Smart and Strong shirt. Basketball even gets top billing!

Enjoy your coach, Texas. Smart is one of the good ones, even if he gets knocked for his gimmicky defense. He puts in the work, and if nothing else, he can make the Longhorns a consistent and dangerous tournament threat.

Dan is on Twitter, awaiting the next wave of "What a Shaka" puns.