Texas Basketball: 5 thoughts regarding Shaka Smart’s potential return
1. Is this the last straw?
It seemed like the Texas athletic department was still without a decision regarding the return of Smart to the Forty Acres for the 2019-20 regular season ahead of the NIT first round matchup against South Dakota State. Chris del Conte knows what he’s doing, though, and we should respect his decision to bring Smart back for one more year at least.
Maybe Smart is just one year away from getting the Horns where he wants them to be. Riding this momentum from the NIT Championship over Lipscomb into the off-season could be just what this locker room and coaching staff needs to finally get things going on a consistent basis. Beating TCU and Colorado by such significant margins also had to play a role in bringing Smart back.
Yet, more than likely the Horns will have some of the growing pains that we saw them experience as they fell short of expectations during the 2018-19 campaign. It does look like the Horns have pieces in place to make that heavily desired NCAA Tournament run and get back to the point of legitimate contention in the Big 12.
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Texas was so dominant during this NIT run, winning nearly every game by a double-digit margin after the second round that this could be just what was needed for Smart to get going. This is what the fans were looking for out of them to put it all together on the hardwood for more than just one game at a time. It is hard to imagine that the fans or athletic department would have enough patience to bring Smart back for a sixth season if he doesn’t succeed next year.