Shaka Smart, arguably one of the better coaches in NCAA Men's Basketball right now, has officially agreed to become the head coach for the Texas Longhorns. He has proven himself in the tournament in recent years, going quite far recently in the March Madness tournament.
VCU has been a feared team in the tournament due to Shaka Smart's great defensive game planning. The Rams have had one of the better defenses in college basketball, and Shaka Smart's "havoc" full court press has helped establish a high turnover defense that can force poor shot selection. Texas' defense should get better as early as next year as Smart's good defensive capabilities have turned VCU from a small town team to an annual March Madness contender. However, with Shaka Smart now moving on to bigger and better things, it could spell an end to VCU's strong tournament success.
As Shaka Smart described it himself, the goal is to create havoc on defense, focus on destroying their psyche, and stopping their opponents plan of attack in their tracks. His VCU teams have ranked number one in turnovers forced and steals forced every year under his coaching. On offense he runs an up tempo style of offense that pushes the ball, and is generally sparked by a defensive turnover resulting in a lot of fastbreak opportunities.
Shaka Smart immediately made a splash one year after becoming the coach of VCU. In his second season, 2010-2011, he took his Rams that lost it's conference championship game to Old Dominion into the field of 68 of the NCAA Tournament. After much criticizm for entry into the tournament, Smart would lead his Rams team to the Final Four where they would lose to the Butler Bulldogs by only eight points.
Texas has not done very well in the tournament in quite a few years. The last time Texas made it to the Sweet 16 was in 2008, when they lost to Memphis in the Elite 8 by a score of, 85-66. Former Longhorn head coach Rick Barnes was at Texas for 17 seasons (1998-2015) and had plenty of succes during his tenure. However, due to his lack of recent success Texas thought it was time to let him go, and move on to a coach who appears to be trending upwards.
Smart and VCU have had some early exits in the NCAA Tournament the last couple of seasons, but he is only 37-years old and currently has a 7-5 record in the NCAA Tournament. During his six seasons at VCU, Smart compiled a winning percent age of .744, and is the second fastest among active coaches to reach 100 career wins after a big victory over Duquesne on January 9th, 2013 when his team won, 90-63.
Another note about Shaka Smart being at a small school like is VCU, he has not had the recruiting power and talent level he could have being at a big school like Texas. Despite their struggles as a program, Texas has still managed to recruit quality talent, including Myles Turner who is a potential first round draft pick in the upcoming draft this offseason. Notable players who played under Rick Barnes include LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant, D.J Augustin, T.J Ford, and Tristan Thompson.
Shaka Smart looks to be the driving force behind Texas becoming an annual contender in college basketball. With him at the helm starting next season, Texas should be competitve once again, and competing for Big 12 championships.