BREAKING: Shaka Smart Will Be Next Coach at Marquette

Well this is an interesting turn of events. From Buzz Williams to Shaka Smart in a matter of a few days. Marquette could have done a lot worse and I wasn’t all that thrilled with the Ben Howland rumors, though it appears the job was his if Shaka turned it down.

From all indications, Doc Rivers played a major role in making this deal happen as did Mrs. Smart. Marquette has shown that they are willing to invest in the basketball program and I’m sure will have no problem paying the $600k to VCU that is required if Smart takes a job somewhere else before 4/30/14. Sources are indicating the deal is for 6 years

Depending on who the new coach is at VCU and how the program will look going forward, Marquette may decide to just buyout the $250k in lieu of having to play a home and home series against VCU.

At the end of the day, this is a home run hire for Marquette and the Big East. Many people were clamoring for VCU to be apart of the Big East’s expansion to 12 teams in the near future. I personally didn’t agree with that because VCU doesn’t fit the profile of the other Big East programs. This will likely stop that clamoring. I’ll have more on this in my post on how the Big East did in their first season later this week.

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Mike Hopkins

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