Why Shaka Smart Couldn't Resist Texas

Shaka Smart is known to employ a defense called “Havoc.”

It’s all about relentless pressure. Forcing poor decisions because the game is moving so fast.

One has to wonder whether the Texas Longhorns just wreaked some havoc on Smart. Caught in the eye of the annual April job-change hurricane, Smart just left a pretty sure thing for a place where basketball isn’t even close to the top priority.

Smart’s made one Final Four (2011) in his six years at VCU. Texas has had only one Final Four trip in the last 68 years, appearing in 2003. Smart was well on his way to being like Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, taking an outpost program and maintaining a powerhouse vision. There would have been nothing wrong with that LinkedIn profile.

But when push came to shove, when career goals came to potential stagnation, Smart faced two life-bending choices.

He could’ve said no to Texas—just like he shooed away a host of others in recent years—and stayed at VCU for the long haul. One more turn-down service would’ve entrenched him further with recruits, who may have been frequently wondering if they’d have Smart around for his entire career. Who knows? Smart could have been losing players in recent years because they were skeptical after seeing his name show up in various coaching-change rumors.

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But Smart may have instead looked at the calendar. He’s coming up on 40 in a few years. Did he really envision being a VCU lifer? And did he really think he could accomplish any more at VCU other than just trying to hang on to a legacy that was three coaches old?

"The ascendance of the VCU program has been and will continue to be about a special group of people both within and outside the immediate team that make VCU basketball extremely unique," Smart told reporters. "This program's future is extremely bright. The best is yet to come."

All that said, Smart had to make the move. The choice, while curious in some ways, really couldn’t have been better. He’ll certainly make more money. His predecessor, Rick Barnes, made about $800,000 more than Smart this season. And while VCU would’ve upped the ante, there’s no way it would have competed with UT. 

But this is bigger than dollar signs, even though the "cha-ching" is loud.

Texas is a perfect program for him at this point. It meshes an underachieving program with an overachieving coach. He brings instant credibility without having to deal with basketball insanity.

Put hoops right behind fall football and spring football, and maybe football recruiting, too. Remember, Barnes hung around for 17 years. While he did some good things, he went to only one Final Four.

If the good-guy Barnes could stick around so long despite some really so-so seasons, then Smart has to be wondering what his six years at VCU are worth. Just think about what he can accomplish in a state that produces so much talent—given Baylor's recent success, Texas A&M having had its moments (especially in recruiting circles of late) and the resurgence of SMU.

Greg Wahl-Stephens/Associated Press

There will be those who say Smart was crazy. He had at least 26 wins in each of the last six seasons. VCU is building a new practice facility. Life was good. You know Few right now is shaking his head, and for good reason.

For now, we’ll still say Smart picked his promotion well. He turned down UCLA, sure, but those Bruins were a mess a few years ago. Besides, his connections have never been to the West.

At VCU he’s carried the calm of someone who knows exactly who he is and what he wants. Westwood may have felt like too big of a reach at that point in his life. It would've been fair to feel that way.

He turned down the likes of Minnesota, Wake Forest and North Carolina State in recent years. But those weren’t significantly better jobs than the one he had. Those Big Ten and ACC programs would always have been tough to consistently move into the upper echelons.

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Texas stands to be there starting right now.

If Baylor can come out of nowhere and make two Elite Eights and a Sweet 16 in the last six years, Austin really should be a slam dunk. That’s what Smart is thinking while he starts packing and deciding where he’ll venture first for barbecue.

The Longhorns could possibly return four starters from this year’s team, which lost to Butler in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. He'll need better wing players to really fulfill his Havoc defense, but there should be some kids who want to play for him.

The beauty about Smart is that he’ll bring instant refreshment to what had become a stale environment under Barnes. Players at VCU adored him. There's no reason to think current Longhorns, or those being recruited there, won't be interested.

Barnes’ Longhorns had an Elite Eight appearance in 2008 but hadn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since then.

Longhorns athletic director Steve Patterson doesn’t exactly get rave reviews as a boss, but he could’ve pitched the job to Smart in a variety of ways.



There’s the money angle. Duh. Or even the toughest-conference pitch. Smart will get to recruit and face the likes of Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg, Kansas’ Bill Self. He is part of the big-time now and will have all the amenities to compete right away.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

There’s also the legacy aspect. Combined with football coach Charlie Strong, these are unique times of leadership equality at UT. Strong became the first African-American head football coach at Texas, and now comes Smart. Coincidentally, they both spent their last years as assistant coaches at Florida (2008-09). That connection could certainly mean something about how they view their big-picture impact. 



Patterson could've also played to Smart’s competitive nature and asked him what he’s scared of. Jeff Capel didn’t succeed after leaving the Rams for Oklahoma. Anthony Grant eventually flailed at Alabama. But did Smart really think he had to stay in VCU’s velvet coffin?



Perhaps Patterson had to mention recent history. Smart likely thought of it anyway, how VCU hasn’t gotten past the round of 32 in the last four years since going to the Final Four. Texas hasn’t, either, but that’s called underachieving. At VCU, postseason woes may have simply meant it was maxed out.

Smart was going to lose his two top players, who were seniors. At some point, he deserved to look out for himself.



It’s still a surprise that Texas didn’t reach out to Gregg Marshall.  

Yet this choice makes more sense for Texas, too. Marshall wouldn’t have liked being second in line to football (hence his turning down Alabama). It’s perfect for Smart, who’s still a developing coach.

Skeptics will certainly say this was a way for Patterson—who ran off football coach Mack Brown—to get a quality coach but also someone he could lord over. That will be something to watch.

Maybe Smart will never confess this, but he’ll have days he regrets leaving VCU.

 Texas comes with all sorts of people tugging on his time, when he used to have total freedom. It is an entirely different political beast. And just ask Brown, who grew weary of the in-house distractions: Having your own TV network doesn’t mean a perfect script is written.



Smart couldn’t resist getting hooked by the Horns, though.  He has the aggressiveness, personality and pizazz that should blend in well in Austin.

 Can he really make a big push for a program that has gone to just one Final Four since 1947?

His leaving was just a matter of time. And this happens to be a good time to find out.

"I'm looking forward to building on the past success of Texas basketball," Smart told reporters. "This is a proud program that goes back over 100 years, and I embrace that history. There is tremendous potential in this program, and my job is to work extremely hard to ensure that we realize that potential. I can't wait to get to work."