Texas Basketball: Jay Bilas believes Shaka Smart’s seat should be cool

ESPN’s Jay Bilas gave a hot take on how head Texas basketball Shaka Smart should have a seat that is not heating up very fast.

After what was yet another failed attempt at pulling off an upset against a top-10 ranked Kansas Jayhawks team during his tenure as head Texas basketball coach, Shaka Smart saw his squad fall short by an 11-point margin on the road on Feb. 3. Texas couldn’t keep their efforts steady enough against the Jayhawks on Monday night to see through what would’ve been a big upset road win at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Head coach Bill Self saw his Kansas team sweep Texas in their regular season series with the 69-58 win here.

The Texas Longhorns basketball program fell to a record of 14-8 (4-5 Big 12) on the season so far with their double-digit loss to Kansas. While getting swept by Kansas in a regular season series definitely isn’t anything to be shameful of for most teams, the fashion in which it happened to the Longhorns is the worst part.

Texas controlled the pace of play for much of both meetings against Kansas this season. Not getting the win at home when they needed it most last month was something that really hurt Texas. Now not capitalizing on another two-game winning streak in Big 12 play hurts a lot too.

But ESPN college basketball analyst and former Duke Blue Devils standout guard Jay Bilas reportedly gave his thoughts on what Texas athletic director Chris del Conte should do regarding Smart’s situation on Monday night.

Here’s what he had to say.

"Well, it’s high on everybody, but I think Texas fans expect to go to the NCAA Tournament, and this is a team that is scratching and clawing to get there. I can tell you this, that if I were the athletic director at Texas, he would be in no danger. I think he is not only an outstanding coach, he’s one of the best people you will ever meet."

Bilas clearly has high marks for Smart, and with good reason. Smart is a well-respected coach in the college basketball ranks. He had a very successful and lengthy tenure during his time with the VCU Rams. And he’s racked up a handful of high-profile wins and recruited well with the Longhorns.

The problem is the lack of consistency under Smart. Missing the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three years really is unacceptable for any hoops program that has as much talent and is as rich with resources as Texas.

We’ll see what happens when the Longhorns next take to the hardwood to face the struggling Texas Tech Red Raiders and head coach Chris Beard on Feb. 8. That will tip-off a two-game home stand for the Longhorns at home at the Frank Erwin Center that will round out with the No. 1 ranked Baylor Bears on Feb. 10.