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http://www.nbebasketball.com/w3/2011-1008/mernagh-for-smart-staying-at-vcu-easy-decision/
FOR SMART, STAYING AT VCU EASY DECISION
Shaka Smart remembers the way he was drawn to his college coach Bill Brown. The charisma Brown exuded as he tried to convince Smart to come to Kenyon College. Back in 2008, I did a piece on Brown for the Pittsburgh Sports Report, and the first person I called was Smart (in fact, I believe it was Shaka who gave me the idea for the piece). As a high school point guard in Madison, Wisconsin, Smart was trying to decide between the likes of Yale, Harvard and Cornell (he was an academic admit to all three) but Brown succeeded in convincing him to come play D-3 basketball for him.”I’ve never seen anyone in the years I’ve known him,” says Smart, “as effective at communicating and connecting with all different kinds of people, he’s just special.”
Smart became part of a program that, in his first year on campus, made a run in the D-3 NCAA tournament. Everything was glorious for Smart and his teammates. They’d had success, and like all athletic groups that have success, they couldn’t wait to build on it. When their heads weren’t buried in a book they were able to hold them high walking the grounds of the campus in Gambier, Ohio. Then reality hit them like a jolt of lightening shortly after their return from the tournament.
Bigger schools had noticed Kenyon’s success and came calling for Brown. And just like Keyser Soze — PFFT — Brown was gone, off to D-2 California University (PA).
“He broke my heart,” says Smart. “He was the closest thing I’d had to a father figure and definitely the strongest male influence I’ve had in my life.” Smart tried to play the good soldier and congratulate his coach but Brown stayed straight up with him. “I remember saying how good it was for him and his family and he said, ‘yeah, but it’s not good for you bud,’ and knowing he realized, I mean that was one of the hardest days of my life and he was just being very, very honest. Like the kids who go anywhere to play ball, the reason I went to that school was probably 95 percent because of him.”
Smart told me that back in 2008.
Following last season’s Final Four run, Smart had his pick of jobs that many mid-major coaches would swim through rat-infested sewers to accept.
We’re talking pretty prime gigs.
But Smart decided to stay and continue to build his program.
Why?
“It was really a pretty easy decision,” says Smart, “I love my guys.”
Tickets to any game this season at Great Prices!
Smart was secure in the faith that VCU AD Norwood Teague, the man who hired him and who he enjoys a close bond with, would reward him with a contract that paid middle of the road Big Six type money. How did he know that? Because Teague, forward-thinking and pragmatic as any AD at his level, was quoted saying as much as VCU bounced one opponent after another on their journey to College Basketball Mecca last March.
Smart, along with his wife Maya, likes Richmond. They love VCU and what the University represents to the real, regular folks in that great city. They’re also students of life and the philosophies that happy, successful people follow. Shaka Smart, maybe more than most, understands when he’s happy and maybe more importantly, why. And you can be sure that he’s paid attention to some of the coaches in his position who have jumped quick, and how it can sometimes be a poor decision.
Barry Collier went from Butler to Nebraska (he’s now the AD at Butler that keeps Brad Stevens around).
Todd Lickliter went from Butler to Iowa (he’s now an assistant to Charlies Coles at Miami).
Robert McCullum went from Western Michigan to South Florida.
Dave Leitao went from DePaul to Virginia (and is now coaching the Maine Red Claws in the D-League).
Keno Davis went from Drake to Providence.
All of those moves were probably no-brainers financially, but they also all ended D-1 head coaching careers (at least up to this point) for each of those men. Plus the world of college basketball has changed financially. The facts are that mid-majors are willing to pay decent coaches with decent winning percentages anywhere from $300-800 grand a year. If you’re smart financially, you should be able to retire down the road off of 3 contracts in the mid-major ranks. The financial incentive to stay in the middle, and actually build a program, has never been greater
If you’re at Butler or VCU and take your team to the Final Four, you can cash in to the tune of a million-plus a year without leaving. That’s never really been the case before, and coaches like Brad Stevens (and Shaka Smart) realize they can be happy, their family can stay comfortable, and they can enjoy the tax bracket increase at the same time.
Stevens probably stays at Butler until Indiana calls.
Smart is another story, something I realized the first time I met him around 2004-05 at the University of Akron.
Smart was the youngest associate head coach in the country at the time (26), helping Keith Dambrot build what would become one of the top-2 programs in the MAC over the last six years. But his age, while probably helping him connect with players, also didn’t keep him from coaching them, both on the court and off. Smart is a coach because he loves coaching. He’s also a new father to a baby girl named Zora Sanae.
He remembers the way he and Brown connected — a connection the two continued. Brown added him to his staff at California U as an assistant when Smart graduated. He also, no doubt recalls the knot in his chest and throat as he watched his coach leave Kenyon that day, leaving him behind with three years of college left to go.
Smart looks at the rings the Rams recently received for their Final Four run.
He looks at one of his first recruits, sophomore big Juvonte Reddic, and wants to be there when Reddic realizes how dominant he can be if he just decides to kill every time he steps on the court. He looks at another recruit, a wispy first-year guard by the name of Briante Weber, and gets excited about watching him develop as a player given the special gifts he brings to VCU.
He reads the following quote from his leader Bradford Burgess on the school’s athletic site about the rings — “There aren’t many people that get an opportunity to wear one of these. It’s humbling to think about all that happened this past spring and now we’ll all have these as reminders of just how special it was.”
They’ll also have a reminder each time they look to the sideline and see Shaka Smart instructing them.
Smart stayed.
It was an easy decision.
Probably the easiest he’s ever made.
The Dre Era
10-12-2011, 12:46 PM
they could of came harder with those rings
they could of came harder with those rings
The NCAA makes them and gives them to the teams.
SyncereOne
10-13-2011, 06:35 PM
they could of came harder with those rings
http://assets.sbnation.com/profile_images/24702/buck_nasty.jpg
The Dre Era
10-13-2011, 09:49 PM
http://assets.sbnation.com/profile_images/24702/buck_nasty.jpg
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http://www.youtube.com/embed/e4TxxpwcE6Q
Video clip from the VCU media day
VCU managed to get all home games televised on ESPN3..step your game up ODU.
SyncereOne
11-07-2011, 06:21 PM
VCU managed to get all home games televised on ESPN3..step your game up ODU.
And GMU.....
And GMU.....
Chillllllllll
Big game tonight. VCU vs Richmond tonight at 8 on ESPN2. I couldnt make the game so I sold my tickets on stubhub for $60 a piece.
Mercury
12-09-2011, 02:24 PM
I'll be watching from home.
my friends said F' vcu after they had to pay $20 for a preseason game (i got in free as a student) LOL
I'll be watching from home.
my friends said F' vcu after they had to pay $20 for a preseason game (i got in free as a student) LOL
VCU raised the price for a student guest ticket after the final four lol.
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