Texas Basketball: Shaka Smart Considering UCLA job?
If the coaching report proves to be true that Texas basketball head man Shaka Smart is being considered by UCLA, there could be big change this summer.
The rise of head coach Shaka Smart during his time with the VCU Rams led him to land the job with the Texas basketball program four years ago. Smart replaced former Texas basketball head coach, currently with the SEC runner-up Tennessee Volunteers, Rick Barnes previous to the 2015-16 regular season. Smart hasn’t lived up to the billing, though, since coming to the Forty Acres.
In his fourth season with the Texas basketball program, Smart barely managed to post a winning percentage above .500. That level of mediocrity is clearly quite difficult for this Texas basketball fan base to deal with, and understandably so. The appearance for this team in the NIT was very disappointing given where it was for most of the regular season.
Smart guided his team to a 16-16 record through the end of the regular season and the Big 12 Tournament. Texas basketball was ousted in its first game in the Big 12 Tournament too, against the Kansas Jayhawks. Smart wasn’t able to lead his team to a win when it mattered most.
However, with all the building impatience from this Texas basketball fan base, Smart could be on a pretty hot seat this off-season. Depending on how this team rounds out the NIT this season, Smart’s fate on the Forty Acres could hang in the balance. Smart and the Texas Longhorns basketball program gets to matchup against the Big 12 foe TCU Horned Frogs in the NIT Semifinals at Madison Square Garden on April 2 to decide if the season will continue for one more game.
Either way you look at it, though, Smart hasn’t lived up to expectations during any of his four years with Texas. He’s made the NCAA Tournament in two of his four seasons, and missed it in two of the past three years. In general, the Horns missed the NCAA Tournament field in just three of the past 21 seasons.
That is an eye-popping number that will get some negative attention drawn toward Smart. Hopefully, he can somewhat turn that around in what could be the final two games of the 2018-19 campaign to round out the NIT.
Given how well Smart recruited over the course of the past four years, the results on the floor should show through at the moment. He is in the midst of hauling in a solid 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class, but most fans likely think that will just lead to more disappointment when it matters.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times recently reported that the UCLA Bruins were down to a few candidates on their coaching search. Two of the more notable candidates that emerged in that report were Smart and TCU’s Jamie Dixon. Another notable candidate mentioned was Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin.
If the Bruins did bring in Smart to replace the departed Steve Alford. , it would solve the issue that a lot of fans have with him still being the head coach for Texas in the first place. But, this is also an important report to follow with respect to what the Horns are doing on the recruiting trail for the 2019 and 2020 classes.
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Although, not much additional information regarding this rumor with Smart emerged since this report first came out. We’ll continue to follow what happens here as Smart and Dixon have their squads squaring off at MSG in New York City tonight.