I never understood the fascination with Smart and his flop at Texas just confirms that he is a one-trick pony (who doesn’t even use that trick anymore!). His Texas teams have made two Tournament appearances, bowing out in one game each time (and in 2016 they were gifted a 6-seed when they were nowhere near that good) and are currently nowhere close to being projected to make another (KenPom predicts a 17-14 record).
Next.
Should have stayed at VCU. Would have still made pretty good money and had job security for the next decade.
Financially, he comes out way better off even if he gets fired from UT.
True, but for me personally, I’d value staying in the same place with job security for 10 years over 1-2 million more for 3-5 years + moving twice potentially. But coaches have a lot of confidence in themselves so I’m sure he was thinking the Texas job was he final destination unless one of the blue bloods came calling
The game I’m most interested in, outside of ours, is Carolina and Kentucky from Chicago. The spread is North Carolina by 2.5. I really liked how they looked against Gonzaga and think they should beat Kentucky on a neutral court by somewhere between 7-10 points.
Unfortunately, this did not come to pass. Despite being at a neutral site I can only assume the crowd was very pro-UK considering the much closer proximity. Looks like Kentucky controlled things basically the entire game.
Yes, if I have money on it you can count on it going the other way.
Getting the Texas job gave him life changing money for himself and his family. It’s about as close to impossible to turn down.
I think his biggest issue is recruiting to the ranking rather than finding players that fit to how he wants to play. He could easily play the pressing style that he did at VCU but he’s recruiting true 5’s that don’t move their feet well. Another issue that he’s having is doesn’t really get to know these kids when they are in Austin. He was use to creating relationships while at VCU and those high level kids that he gets now don’t stay long enough to build anything consistency (I believe that was from The Athletic).
Down goes Kansas, 80-76.
I was expecting Alford to be fired, but not mid-season.
https://sports.yahoo.com/report-ucla-fires-steve-alford-mens-basketball-coach-140108363.html
They’ve been awful and this needed to happen. They just got run off their own court to Liberty.
Never thought he was a good coach, especially on in-game adjustments. His teams often lacked discipline. He seemed to rely on his recruiting abilities.
(65), Michigan Head Coach
PROS: An absolute proven winner, proving it over 36 years of coaching college basketball. In his 13th season at Michigan, he’s taken the Wolverines to eight Tournaments, one Sweet 16, one Elite Eight and two Championship Games. He also took West Virginia to a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight. He utilizes a confounding zone defense, and his teams are always fundamentally sound and well-coached.
CONS: He’s the oldest guy on this list at 65, and probably doesn’t have many years left on the sideline. He has no west coast experience at all. There wouldn’t be much buzz to the hire, and it wouldn’t necessarily set recruiting on fire.
WHETHER IT COULD HAPPEN: Beilein is so well-respected and would be a good back-up option that you know would make UCLA very competitive and successful. It’s difficult to know if he’s content at Michigan; he’s had chances to win national championships there and he might feel he has just as good a chance in Ann Arbor, especially since he has the program built, and maybe not a great deal of time to build another. He makes $3.37 million so he’d have to get a big bump to probably make the move worthwhile.
Laughed pretty hard at this
LMAO, this is perfect
That article is a gem.
How about the final line?
“UCLA could put calls into Jay Wright (Villanova), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Chris Mack (Louisville) and Archie Miller (Indiana) to gauge interest.”
“He utilizes a confounding zone defense…”
LOL, who wrote this?
247’s definition of “Fake News”!
I hope 247 isn’t paying the writer of that.
Wow! Who IS this guy…and does he know ANYTHING? First, JB is NOT a “back-up option.” Secondly, JB has long since abandoned a “confusing zone defense.” Thirdly, he ain’t goin’ to UCLA! Wow! I laughed, too!