Are you excited that Marquette hired Shaka Smart?

[SWARM!]

Home run.  8.5/10.  I think he will thrive here and have Buzz Williams-type success, with a chance for a little more.  My only real hesitation is getting top 100 recruits to buy into the HAVOC system that was so successful for him.  I think in at least some respects, it will be reintroduced here and it'll be fun as hell.

[Billy Hoyle]

Heck yes I am excited. Mainly just to move on from Wojo.

But there is a level on concern. 
https://www.burntorangenation.com/2021/3/26/22351858/fire-shaka-smart-texas-longhorns-job-security-chris-del-conte

Some of the struggles with Shaka at Texas seem to replicate what we just went through with Wojo.  He is leaving a mess in Austin.

Anderson was fired from Arkansas despite never finishing under .500. Many here laughed the hire but in hindsight I think most of us would have taken him over Wojo.

[1SE]

Why would he thrive at MU after he stunk in Texas?

Others have said it.better.than me - system coach who tried to go.player coach.

But his past 3 years have been solid and he's.coming off a B12 Tournament win. He got upset on opening weekend of the.NCAA. that happens. Ask Wojo.

[Billy Hoyle]

Others have said it.better.than me - system coach who tried to go.player coach.

But his past 3 years have been solid and he's.coming off a B12 Tournament win. He got upset on opening weekend of the.NCAA. that happens. Ask Wojo.

Forget Wojo. Ask Tony Bennett. 

[LAMUfan]

YES.

[NCMUFan]

Well Big 12 and Big East are tougher conferences than Atlantic 10.  Much smaller margin of error to win regarding everything.  Separates the pros from pretenders.  Certainly deserves a chance.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Why would he thrive at MU after he stunk in Texas?

He didn't stink at Texas. Just has zero wins in the tournament.

[YaBlueIt]

YaBlueIt if Minnesota fires Johnson after one week to hire Moser, the coaching world will be in an upheaval!

Haha forgive me, I'm not always up to speed on the college basketball world. I just remember them once being mentioned as a possible destination for Moser.

[JakeBarnes]

Underrated part: Shaka's connections with USA basketball could keep us in good shape with Jordan Brand too.

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

Why would he thrive at MU after he stunk in Texas?

Have you ever worked at a company and not had it work out but gone on to be successful in the same field elsewhere? Culture is everything to success.

I believe MU has the right culture for Shaka to build and sustain a program on his terms. He has had incredible success in his career prior to Texas. He is young, energetic, and can put a brand on MU ball that we haven't seen since Buzz and he can do it without off court issues.

I think we have a ton of upside with Shaka and this could be the best hire MU has made since Al.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Very excited. Am guessing Doc was instrumental again. Congrats awesome!

[Hards Alumni]

Very excited. Am guessing Doc was instrumental again. Congrats awesome!

mmmmm don't be so sure.

[Pakuni]

I'm not not excited.

[McLintock]

After 7 years I'm honestly ecstatic with anyone but the guy we had.  Can't wait for the new start.

[Farley36]

I'm excited and will give him a chance to prove himself as I did for Wojo the first 5 years.   While his results at Texas were so so, I believe that the right fit makes a big difference in performance.  Texas appears to have been a bad fit and VCU a good one.  How good a fit MU is for Shaka remains to be seen.  Hoping he starts off well and retains our better players/recruits and adds to it in a year where there will be a lot of opportunity to build a roster quickly.

[forgetful]

On a scale from 1-10, I am a 7-8.   I am not blind to what happened at Texas.  I choose optimism.

This is where I'm at. I was a little hesitant at first even before the ACU loss, but the more I looked at everything the more I liked Shaka as a candidate.

I think this has the possibility of being an elite hire. I think the ceilings very high, and the floor is a Wojo-like story.

I'm optimistic we are going after the ceiling. Shaka and MU to the moon...(if I keep saying it, it will happen, Shaka is going to make the Gamestop rally look tiny).

[muwarrior69]

After 7 years I'm honestly ecstatic with anyone but the guy we had.  Can't wait for the new start.

So am I, just hope we didn't hire Wojo 2.0. If no one transfers and we pickup a few on the portal we could have decent season next year. I hope Goose is right and we hit a home  run with Shaka.

That of course is if all the reporting is true. We know what happened last time.

[tower912]

I had more reservations about Wojo.  No HC experience, only knew the Duke system.

Nobody knows for sure if Coach Smart will become a MU legend.   But he is experienced and is coming back to Wisconsin.   Here's hoping.   He has my support.   And patience.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Let's Go!!!!!!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Absolutely.

But to be fair, I would have been excited with any of the 4 finalists. I think any of them was going to be an improvement.

[MarquetteMike1977]

Yes am excited. Was watching a Texas game at a bar downtown a few years ago did not have a horse in the game and remarked wow Texas does Not get a very favorable whistle. Wonder if Moser was not going to come but am happy about the hire and think it is awesome.

[MomofMUltiples]

Considering that my OTHER team whose fans were hoping for an impact hire ended up hiring a former assistant to the failed coach who, despite rumors of him being a great recruiter in Minnesota, STILL let Tre Jones, McKinley Wright, Theo John, Dawson Garcia AND Matthew Hurt slip though his fingers, I am absolutely thrilled.  I was thinking we were going to end up with Chris Carrawell or Isaac Chew.

[willie warrior]

On a scale from 1-10, I am a 7-8.   I am not blind to what happened at Texas.  I choose optimism.

I agree. Some concerns, but hell, he is an upgrade over Wojo-Dukiet.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

I had more reservations about Wojo.  No HC experience, only knew the Duke system.

Nobody knows for sure if Coach Smart will become a MU legend.   But he is experienced and is coming back to Wisconsin.   Here's hoping.   He has my support.   And patience.

When People compare to Shaka to Wojo there is a contrast........


Shaka Smart has 18 top 100 recruits in the past 6 years

His 3 tourney losses with Texas have been by a combined 8 points

Marquette's 2 tournament losses under Wojo were by a combined 39 points

[Autoengineer]

Agree. If Moser goes to DePaul or another opening then that won't look good for MU.

It was never going to be Moser.   See Scholl's press conference for the reason why.