Message from Shaka

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Is it too late to go after Wardle?  🤔

Wardle to Kentucky.

[Uncle Rico]

Wardle to Kentucky.

Kentucky would be my second favorite team, aina?

[Viper]

Kentucky would be my second favorite team, aina?

Wardle to Kentucky? I’d shiiit my shorts, hey 😉

[tower912]

You missed the sarcsam.  Kentucky goes after Gard before Wardle.

[We R Final Four]

I am not saying never.   But Shaka's wife is on the faculty at MU.   His mom is a reasonable drive away.  His daughter has settled in.  And he did not have a great experience at Texas.
  So, he has a good contract and a supportive university and fanbase.   If he went now, he would be outed for the same kind of hypocrisy he seems to decry.
   So, I cannot picture him going to Kentucky.   It is cool that he is on their second tier list after getting rejected by their first few choices.   I cannot ever see Shaka taking the Kentucky job.    He will definitely be on IU's short list when they part ways with Woodson.

And breaking ground on a beautiful new home on Lake Michigan…..

[NCMUFan]

Nice message by Shaka.  If he feels this is home he will stay.

[Viper]

You missed the sarcsam.  Kentucky goes after Gard before Wardle.

…I did. My attempt at sarcasm was from…
“Former Wis.-Green Bay player details abuse allegations
Apr 30, 2013 — Asked whether he believed Wardle knew that Bross had soiled his pants, Bross said yes because it was visible in his white shorts.”
Gard knows ball. Wardle don’t know sh…! (well, maybe he does, actually)

[Tyler COLEk]

What a pleasure having Shaka lead this program. The toughest part of his tenure from a fan's perspective is the offseason feeling too long.

[tower912]

I am now wondering if this was put out after the rumored zoom call with Kentucky.  Pre-emptive and reassuring before the rumors started.

[Goose]

Tower

What was the rumored zoom call? I did not see that.

[TallTitan34]

Trilly said Shaka had a zoom call with Kentucky.

Pretty sure it was just to say he wasn't interested.

[CountryRoads]

Tower

What was the rumored zoom call? I did not see that.

This was from Trilly’s discord:

<@1179798793269547048> Do you know who else has been interviewed by Kentucky? Saw Matt jones said there have been 2 that haven’t been reported on

Trilly:
Shaka had a zoom interview and that’s it.

He also said that it was Shaka’s decision to end the interview process at that stage.

[GoldenEagles03]

Trilly said Shaka had a zoom call with Kentucky.

Pretty sure it was just to say he wasn't interested.

Yes.

[cheebs09]

Maybe a, "stop contacting my agent, I'm very much not interested," call.

[tower912]

Probably in that neighborhood.   

[onepost]

I am now wondering if this was put out after the rumored zoom call with Kentucky.  Pre-emptive and reassuring before the rumors started.

It was.  None of these seemingly "random" coach statements are coincidental.
Shaka tweeted that at 3:03 pm, Jon Rothstein tweeted that Mark Pope had emerged as the primary candidate at 3:36 pm.

Only three meaningful coaches dropped those out-of-the-blue public statements this week: Nate Oats, Scott Drew, Shaka Smart.

[MUbiz]

I do not know how accurate this is but Trilly reported Shaka had a video call with KY and it did not go any farther after that. He reported it around 8pm last night.

[PGsHeroes32]

I do not know how accurate this is but Trilly reported Shaka had a video call with KY and it did not go any farther after that. He reported it around 8pm last night.

Bro

[MUbiz]

Bro

Like I said, no clue if its true, but apparently Trilly reported it. I am very leery about any reports and take them with a grain of salt.

https://twitter.com/weaselp1/status/1778692288597635179

[TallTitan34]

Like I said, no clue if its true, but apparently Trilly reported it. I am very leery about any reports and take them with a grain of salt.

https://twitter.com/weaselp1/status/1778692288597635179

[tower912]

It isn't what you said.  It is that you were hours late.   Meh.   I don't know that it is true, either.   I believe it is possible.

[Skatastrophy]

You have to take calls like that. Basketball politics is a thing, and Shaka will be in the game for a long time. You never know where the Kentucky admin is going to end up working next. Be kind, be professional, be generous with your time, and move on.

[El Guerrero 2]

You have to take calls like that. Basketball politics is a thing, and Shaka will be in the game for a long time. You never know where the Kentucky admin is going to end up working next. Be kind, be professional, be generous with your time, and move on.

Agreed. I have no problem at all with Shaka taking the call to hear their pitch. Everyone is entitled to listen to the market when it comes to their career. And I don’t even have a problem with someone like Crean deciding somebody else’s offer is worth accepting. What I have an issue with is slime balls like Buzz using the media to whore themselves out to the highest bidder and implicitly crap on their current school.