Shaka to MU (Done deal v. 2.0)

[Pakuni]

Can Shaka bring his Texas recruits with him?

4* SG Tamar Bates (from FL)
4* PF David Joplin (from WI)

I think one of the reasons Joplin never seriously considered MU is because we brought in four bigs in the previous class (Garcia, Lewis,Oso). Unless any of those three leaves, I'm not sure there's a fit for him on the roster.
Shaka's first task after meeting with the team ought to be hopping on a flight to Charlotte to see Jonas Aidoo.

[Sir Lawrence]

His WIKI page says

Smart's given name was bestowed in honor of the famous Zulu warrior.

[MU82]

I went from playful critic to advocate to skeptic ... and now I'm all-in on Shaka.

Those who have talked about him being humbled by his Texas experience, by him realizing that Marquette is the kind of place where he can succeed spectacularly ... they made an excellent case.

I am a proud Marquette alum and I am willing to support anybody who is willing to take on the enormous challenge of turning our basketball program back into something fantastic.

Welcome to Marquette, Shaka Smart!

[LastWarrior]

[Resilient]

Should've just hired Turgeon

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I went from playful critic to advocate to skeptic ... and now I'm all-in on Shaka.

Those who have talked about him being humbled by his Texas experience, by him realizing that Marquette is the kind of place where he can succeed spectacularly ... they made an excellent case.

I am a proud Marquette alum and I am willing to support anybody who is willing to take on the enormous challenge of turning our basketball program back into something fantastic.

Welcome to Marquette, Shaka Smart!

Wow, 3 stances in a week.  Way to go.  You can always be right.   

[warriorstrack]

Was a sauna a part of the deal to get Shaka's wife to agree to move here?

[naginiF]

Wow, 3 stances in a week.  Way to go.  You can always be right.   

apparently that Abilene Christian game was longer ago than I remember because I was told that was a disqualifier

[Tums Festival]

Ben Steele:

"Can confirm that Marquette is set to hire Shaka Smart, one week after parting ways with Steve Wojciechowski. #mubb"

https://twitter.com/BenSteeleMJS/status/1375471784510828547

[MU82]

Wow, 3 stances in a week.  Way to go.  You can always be right.   

OK. I have explained myself. If you are not satisfied with my explanation, I can live with that.

Welcome to Marquette, Shaka.

We Are Marquette!

[NolongerWarriors]

I went from playful critic to advocate to skeptic ... and now I'm all-in on Shaka.

Those who have talked about him being humbled by his Texas experience, by him realizing that Marquette is the kind of place where he can succeed spectacularly ... they made an excellent case.

I am a proud Marquette alum and I am willing to support anybody who is willing to take on the enormous challenge of turning our basketball program back into something fantastic.

Welcome to Marquette, Shaka Smart!

If "fantastic" means first-round flameouts, then Shaka is your guy

[wyoMUfan]

Let's Go Shaka!
I like the hire, bring some fire back to the team.
I suspect he might be able to keep our roster in tact (no evidence), didn't he recruit Dawson to Texas?
Excited for some personality from the HC!

[PhillyWarrior]

Could not be more disappointed.

Hire a guy who's teams underachieve in the NCAA, and whose players got outhustled and outworked.

Moser is 100X the game coach Shaka is.

Disappointed as well, am a real Moser fan but let's see if they made a run at him and he was not interested.

Most are focused on Shaka keeping the players.  My concern is that he hasn't done any better than Wojo in the last 7 years

[DegenerateDish]

I know there was some angst last Saturday night when I was advocating strongly for Shaka, and there are valid concerns people brought up.

I love the hire, I think (hope) Texas was a great learning experience for Shaka. I think sometimes things just don't work at certain places. I hope and think he comes to MU with a mindset of a great program with a passionate fan base near where he's from, a school solely focused on basketball, will get his juices flowing and be the guy to lead MU for a while. I think he knows he has something to prove and hope to see the fan base get behind him.

[Goose]

I am so happy that I forget how I feel about some posters on here. Today, Goose loves all of the faithful posters on Scoop.

[MU82]

I know there was some angst last Saturday night when I was advocating strongly for Shaka, and there are valid concerns people brought up.

I love the hire, I think (hope) Texas was a great learning experience for Shaka. I think sometimes things just don't work at certain places. I hope and think he comes to MU with a mindset of a great program with a passionate fan base near where he's from, a school solely focused on basketball, will get his juices flowing and be the guy to lead MU for a while. I think he knows he has something to prove and hope to see the fan base get behind him.

Outstanding post, Dish, and agree with this 100%.

[jsglow]

I think he arrived overnight guys.  Any confirmation?

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/EJA319/history/20210326/0200Z/KAUS/KMKE

[MU24]

Was fooled once, not gonna believe it till I see him and the team practicing.

[jsglow]

I know there was some angst last Saturday night when I was advocating strongly for Shaka, and there are valid concerns people brought up.

I love the hire, I think (hope) Texas was a great learning experience for Shaka. I think sometimes things just don't work at certain places. I hope and think he comes to MU with a mindset of a great program with a passionate fan base near where he's from, a school solely focused on basketball, will get his juices flowing and be the guy to lead MU for a while. I think he knows he has something to prove and hope to see the fan base get behind him.

+1

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

It is very possible that Moser that doesn't want to leave Loyola either.

It's possible. It's not the case but possible.

[Goose]

Dish

Great post.

[Dr. Blackheart]

MU had great choices this time. Shaka hit most of the buttons. I love his style of play on both sides of the ball. I don't mind a guy who can rebound from his failures. It also helps that Shaka had his go at the high pressure job as he will have pause about leaving.  And his recruiting network, including the guy who first broke this news, should give us glee.

Job well done by MU and the donors who stepped up.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Those who have talked about him being humbled by his Texas experience, by him realizing that Marquette is the kind of place where he can succeed spectacularly ... they made an excellent case.

Several people have made this statement, but I am not sure why people think that. What is going to be different form him at MU vs. UT?

He was already having great recruiting success at Texas, I certainly don't think it gets even better because he comes to Marquette. Does his coaching ability suddenly rise a level? Is there something Texas wasn't allowing him to do that he'll be able to do at MU?

I am pretty neutral on Shaka but certainly hope he succeeds, I just don't get why people think something dramatically changes for him.

[NWarsh]

I know there was some angst last Saturday night when I was advocating strongly for Shaka, and there are valid concerns people brought up.

I love the hire, I think (hope) Texas was a great learning experience for Shaka. I think sometimes things just don't work at certain places. I hope and think he comes to MU with a mindset of a great program with a passionate fan base near where he's from, a school solely focused on basketball, will get his juices flowing and be the guy to lead MU for a while. I think he knows he has something to prove and hope to see the fan base get behind him.

This - I think it has been well noted that there was stuff going on behind the scenes at Texas.  Has anybody left a job that they were really comfortable in to go to a new company and it turned out the culture and the fit just was not there?  I know it has happened to me and when I was there I was not doing the quality of work that I had in my previous place of employment because I was miserable.  It happens, but everything about this situation feels like a great fit for both parties.

[MU82]

Several people have made this statement, but I am not sure why people think that. What is going to be different form him at MU vs. UT?

He was already having great recruiting success at Texas, I certainly don't think it gets even better because he comes to Marquette. Does his coaching ability suddenly rise a level? Is there something Texas wasn't allowing him to do that he'll be able to do at MU?

I am pretty neutral on Shaka but certainly hope he succeeds, I just don't get why people think something dramatically changes for him.

He will continue being a great recruiter. He will feel less pressure. As much as we want to believe Marquette is at the highest level and the Big East is the bomb, the fact is that it is a half-step down from Texas and the Big 12, and I believe he has a chance for big-time success at Marquette. All IMHO. You are free to disagree.

Many criticisms of him, including yours, are valid. I certainly voiced some in the aftermath of his ugly NCAAT loss. I have chosen to be an optimist, and to overweight his positives.

We Are Marquette!