Texas Basketball: 3 reasons Shaka Smart should be fired after ACU loss

All of the talk around the Texas basketball program of late has surrounded the hot seat of sixth-year head coach Shaka Smart. The longtime former head coach of the VCU Rams hoops program is now on one of the hotter seats of any major conference team in the nation. Texas had a very tough upset loss at the hands of the 14-seed Abilene Christian Wildcats in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament on March 20.

Not being able to get by the 14-seed Abilene Christian and head coach Joe Goulden when Smart and the three-seed Longhorns entered as a nine-point favorite was a mark that this head coach couldn’t afford. Smart already came into this season on a hot seat, after a vote of confidence last offseason from Texas athletic director Chris del Conte.

Abilene Christian got the best of the Longhorns in the Round of 64 last weekend on last-second free throws from junior big man Joe Pleasant. Texas almost walked away with the win after redshirt junior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones hit a three-pointer in the dying seconds of the second half.

How Shaka Smart and Texas basketball will proceed this offseason

There’s no public statement that came out from the Texas athletic administration concerning the job status of Smart following the loss to ACU on March 20. With the public outcry and a lot of discussion in the college hoops media landscape surrounding Smart’s job status heading out of the weekend, it’s likely that something like that will come soon.

Texas needs some level of change this offseason, and the roster attrition is likely to be extreme no matter what. But the real question remains what happens with Smart and this Texas coaching staff heading into a long offseason.

Here’s a look at three reasons why the Longhorns should part ways with Smart following the upset loss to ACU on March 20.