Last night the basketball world was shocked to hear that
VCU’s head basketball coach, Shaka Smart was leaving and taking a head coaching
job at Texas. This comes somewhat as a surprise to VCU fans. Since reaching the
final four in 2011, Smart had received several coaching offers from high-level
schools; however he always chose to remain with his team. This year could be
seen as one of the best years for VCU basketball; they had to overcome
obstacles and lost 6 out of their 10 losses late in the season. VCU was able to
rally back and win the Atlantic 10 tournament to win a seed in the NCAA
tournament.
A friend of mine from high school attends VCU and went to
the Atlantic 10 tournament in New York to watch the Rams win. Last night when
news of Smart’s new job reached Twitter I found myself reading my friend’s
tweets. He was upset along with the rest of the students and fans. He tweeted
about an article, The shaping of Shaka,
that I found extremely interesting and left me questioning why Smart decided to
leave VCU. I’m a basketball fan and I love watching basketball, but I didn’t
know the story behind Shaka Smart and I’m glad I read this article. The article
was release around four months ago and Smart talked about his life growing up
and his father walking out on him and his mother. Smart went on to play
basketball at Kenyon College. After his first year his coach left the team to
take a job elsewhere. In the article Smart said that he cried for days because
the only father figured he had was leaving him. This is why it is more than a
financial decision to change jobs. His decision not only affects his family but
also his basketball family.
No one may ever know why Shaka Smart decided to leave VCU
but my bet is that it wasn’t about the money. For someone who has the life
story like Shaka Smart, genuine love and respect should come before money
factors in deciding to leave your team.
For more information on Shaka Smart’s departure from VCU
click on this link to an article from espn: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12608854/shaka-smart-new-texas-longhorns-coach
Shaka Smart has been one of the coaches I look up to for a few years now. One of my classmates in high school, Treveon Graham, plays there now and it's been so interesting seeing how all the boys that started playing there in 2011 have grown as a team and as a family, and all of them finishing up their senior season this year, through the eyes of Treveon's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts. I didn't know the story of Shaka Smart's childhood and coach, but that makes me respect him more as a friend and a mentor to the team. While it may be hard for him to leave VCU, I'm sure he will be just as great a mentor to the next group of guys he coaches!
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