Shaka's Response

[Pakuni]

So now Shaka is both a bad recruiter and a bad coach. Crazy the success he's had in spite of him being bad at the two things a good college coach needs to be good at.

I don't think Shaka is a bad recruiter. His track record at Texas proves otherwise.
I do think that during his time at Marquette, he's swung and missed too often on upside, overestimating his staff's ability to take a kid with traits (height, speed, athleticism) and turn him into a basketball player.
Taking a shot on a raw big man is OK every once in a while. Buzz did it with guys like Mbao and McMorrow. He also moved on from them quickly. But recruiting only projects for your frontcourt - and that includes Gold, IMO - puts you at risk of landing where we are today.
I also think there may have been an overemphasis on recruiting a certain type of kid, i.e. one who'll bide his time and buy into the RGV model, at the expense of recruiting the best players you can get. Nobody wants to bring jerks into the the program. But there's nothing wrong with trying to land kids who hope they can get to the league quickly. It's not going to wreck your precious culture.

It's less about his ability to recruit than it his recruiting choices.

[wadesworld]

I don't think Shaka is a bad recruiter. His track record at Texas proves otherwise.
I do think that during his time at Marquette, he's swung and missed too often on upside, overestimating his staff's ability to take a kid with traits (height, speed, athleticism) and turn him into a basketball player.
Taking a shot on a raw big man is OK every once in a while. Buzz did it with guys like Mbao and McMorrow. But recruiting only projects for your frontcourt - and that includes Gold, IMO - puts you a risk of landing where we are today.
I also think there may have been an overemphasis on recruiting a certain type of kid, i.e. one who'll bide his time and buy into the RGV model, at the expense of recruiting the best players you can get. I get it, nobody wants to bring jerks into the the program. But there's nothing wrong with trying to land kids who hope they can get to the league quickly.

It's less about his ability to recruit than it his recruiting choices.

He's recruited a good amount of higher level talent, usually 1-2 guys he goes pretty hard for in each class. He just hasn't landed them, unfortunately. Why? I'm not sure. But guys like Dooney Johnson, Cam Ward, JJ Andrews, Kon Knipple, Nyk Lewis, and others that are higher level kids than Shaka has landed have all had legitimate interest in Marquette. The guys he's landed have been between 75-125ish for the most part, which has typically been the sweet spot for Marquette, with an occasional higher ranked kid every couple years.

I don't think Shaka is avoiding recruiting higher level players who would push for immediate minutes over returners. There's just a lot of competition for those players.

[WhiteTrash]

I don't think Shaka is avoiding recruiting higher level players who would push for immediate minutes over returners. There's just a lot of competition for those players.

Agreed. I don't think there is a coach in college, in any sport, who would pass on talent to reward current players. That is kind of the whole premise of competitive sports. Whoever gives the team the best chance to win, plays. That starts in like 5th grade.

[Small Orange Soda]

Agreed. I don't think there is a coach in college, in any sport, who would pass on talent to reward current players.

Isn't that exactly what Shaka says he's doing when asked why he doesn't use the portal?

[Mu8891]

Trash - well ... it depends how you look at it. Shaka has swung and missed on higher level talent ( Kon ), but he actively and intentionally passes on kids in the portal.

That's why he has the roster he has, and why a guy like Hamilton is playing FFS.

[K1 Lover]

Agreed. I don't think there is a coach in college, in any sport, who would pass on talent to reward current players. That is kind of the whole premise of competitive sports. Whoever gives the team the best chance to win, plays. That starts in like 5th grade.

https://today.marquette.edu/2025/07/mens-basketball-coach-shaka-smart-talks-our-way-how-marquette-approaches-player-retention-development-differently/

Shaka on the portal:

"For us, we are not against transfers. Tyler Kolek and O-Max Prosper were transfers. Those guys were really good for us. But we are in favor of, and I actually got this from Travis Diener, who is as thoughtful and good a representative of Marquette basketball and Marquette University as we've had in our program in the last few decades. Travis said to me, 'I just think it makes sense to reward the guys who have worn the jersey.' I think about that often. It just makes a lot of sense."

"Once you start bringing in a bunch of transfers, it doesn't happen in a vacuum. It impacts your roster and your program. We have made a decision and a commitment to the guys in our program. Yes, we could have gone in the transfer portal and recruited some guys, but we feel like it would have stunted their growth. We feel if we value growth, that would be a contradiction, and we believe that we can be a lot better than people think without taking transfers."