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scher215 said:
If this story is true. Makes you wonder if this was possibly NT and Shaka's plan all along? Barring some huge Tubby run, he would bring Shaka here. Could this be why Shaka turned down those other jobs? Waiting for NT to call?
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I think so, the last few seasons have been a train wreck, irresponsible to not have considered replacing him regardless of how nice a person Tubby is, when he accepted the 2 million he knew what was expected.
 

Wow. They really seem to hate Norwood. Why is that?
 



Buttcheeks McGaffigan said:
Because he left for a better opportunity.
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I have met Norwood a few times because I have friends who were/are D1 athletes here at VCU. Teague left for a "better opportunity" for HIM. He's always been a football guy, and wanted to be an AD at a football school.

The same thing remains to be seen for Shaka. I doubt Shaka would come to the U, but if he had to leave for somewhere I would hope he'd be there. Smart has always wanted basketball to be the emphasis wherever he is, and I just don't see that at Minnesota.
 


Boy, aren't those VCU posters just as classy as can be...
 

mplarson7 said:
Boy, aren't those VCU posters just as classy as can be...
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That board has gone through NC State, Illini, Maryland and other schools' fans coming onto Ramnation and saying a lot of things. Pardon them for reacting negatively to another round, for a third straight year. Im just glad no other Gopher fans have made their way there and been negative in any way.
 


Gopher+RamFan said:
That board has gone through NC State, Illini, Maryland and other schools' fans coming onto Ramnation and saying a lot of things. Pardon them for reacting negatively to another round, for a third straight year. Im just glad no other Gopher fans have made their way there and been negative in any way.
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Of course we haven't, we're Minnesotans.
 



I hope no one trolls over there. Nothing but respect for VCU. I did enjoy the posts about Ventura and the deflated Metrodump.
 

Gopher+RamFan said:
I have met Norwood a few times because I have friends who were/are D1 athletes here at VCU. Teague left for a "better opportunity" for HIM. He's always been a football guy, and wanted to be an AD at a football school.

The same thing remains to be seen for Shaka. I doubt Shaka would come to the U, but if he had to leave for somewhere I would hope he'd be there. Smart has always wanted basketball to be the emphasis wherever he is, and I just don't see that at Minnesota.
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Minnesota is a heck of a lot closer to being a basketball power than football power.
 

RoyalGopher said:
The call him nogood.

VCU fans are pretty damn sure we're not getting Shaka. GIFs with guys eating popcorn saying they want to watch the meltdown when we don't get Shaka. http://www.vcuramnation.com/forums/threads/smith-fired-let-the-talk-begin.11313/page-9
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If Shaka is ever going to leave VCU, this is the year he'll do it. There's such a thing as waiting too long. The Final Four is still fresh, the last two years have been good. UCLA and Minnesota (and others) would both love to have him. At some point teams will stop asking. I don't think Mark Few's phone rings as often anymore.
 

howeda7 said:
If Shaka is ever going to leave VCU, this is the year he'll do it. There's such a thing as waiting too long. The Final Four is still fresh, the last two years have been good. UCLA and Minnesota (and others) would both love to have him. At some point teams will stop asking. I don't think Mark Few's phone rings as often anymore.
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VCU is breaking ground on a $20 million practice facility, AND he's bringing in his greatest recruiting class, returning to his best team he's had since he's been here. Team's covet him because he usually coaches his talent up into his system so there's not much of a let down (like with Tubby).

Next year should be a good one on the court for VCU if Shaka stays. When he leaves for a Power 6 job, he'll be a recruiting monster. But "if Shaka is ever going to leave VCU, this is the year" is not quite true.

He's a VERY intelligent man (Im really tired of the 'smart' puns) and has his own set of priorities. Money, obviously isn't too much on his mind at this PRESENT time, or else he would have left. He knows at VCU, the school will devote whatever it can to further the basketball program - just not sure if that will be enough.

PS. Living in both Minnesota and Virginia - I've always found it interesting Minnesota only has one D1 basketball program, compared with around 15 in VA. Of course, there's no D1 hockey program in VA anywhere.
 



howeda7 said:
If Shaka is ever going to leave VCU, this is the year he'll do it. There's such a thing as waiting too long. The Final Four is still fresh, the last two years have been good. UCLA and Minnesota (and others) would both love to have him. At some point teams will stop asking. I don't think Mark Few's phone rings as often anymore.
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@BillPlaschke
Don't know where Shaka Smart is going -- UCLA, Minnesota? -- but he'd be wise to go somewhere while he's hot..that heat doesn't last...
 

Gopher+RamFan said:
VCU is breaking ground on a $20 million practice facility, AND he's bringing in his greatest recruiting class, returning to his best team he's had since he's been here. Team's covet him because he usually coaches his talent up into his system so there's not much of a let down (like with Tubby).

Next year should be a good one on the court for VCU if Shaka stays. When he leaves for a Power 6 job, he'll be a recruiting monster. But "if Shaka is ever going to leave VCU, this is the year" is not quite true.

He's a VERY intelligent man (Im really tired of the 'smart' puns) and has his own set of priorities. Money, obviously isn't too much on his mind at this PRESENT time, or else he would have left. He knows at VCU, the school will devote whatever it can to further the basketball program - just not sure if that will be enough.

PS. Living in both Minnesota and Virginia - I've always found it interesting Minnesota only has one D1 basketball program, compared with around 15 in VA. Of course, there's no D1 hockey program in VA anywhere.
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I've lived in both places as well. I'm just saying if he isn't a lifer, now's the time to go. Same probably goes for Brad Stevens. Maybe they will both follow the Mark Few and Chris Petersen path. VCU is a fine job. But unless/until it joins the new Big East, it's not on the same level. Even then, it will always be little brother to UVa, VT, etc.
 

afurry91 said:
My money was on that being a bluff. Who fires Tubby Smith without knowing who your replacement is? Especially Minnesota. This was a balsy enough move as it is. I don't think Norwood would do it if he didn't know the replacement.
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My thinking exactly. You don't fire a quality coach without a backup plan, just like you don't dump a hot girlfriend until you have a hotter one. And it would be more than extremely disrespectful for Teague to imply that they already have a replacement in mind.
 

And if you're a fan of a mid-major, you have to accept that this is going to happen. If you have a hot coach, he's eventually going to leave for greener pastures. It's part of the game (unless you're Chris Petersen at BSU in football, but there are personal reasons why he doesn't leave).
 

If Shaka comes to Minnesota over the legendary UCLA program (insane opportunity IMO) or staying at VCU it will be because--

-Great relationship with Teague and Ellis (having bosses you like is key for ANY job)
-The 2014 MN recruiting class Tyus, Vaughn, Travis. If Shaka can sweep in and get these guys that could be enough to springboard this program to being elite.
-He's from the midwest, so the idea of Minnesota doesn't sound like another planet

Personally, I think Shaka is crazy if he picks MN over UCLA. It's UCLA...but I will remain optimistic that Teague and Ellis' relationship will land Shaka.
 

discochris said:
And if you're a fan of a mid-major, you have to accept that this is going to happen. If you have a hot coach, he's eventually going to leave for greener pastures. It's part of the game (unless you're Chris Petersen at BSU in football, but there are personal reasons why he doesn't leave).
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It does happen 95% of the time. I don't think Shaka is a lifer, but he may be in the mold of Mark Few, Brad Stevens etc.. since he has observed Anthony Grant, Dan Monson and Jeff Capel leave comfortable and jobs that made them the "happiest in their career" (Capel's quote). Shaka won't leave for money, as already established. He'll leave for the right opportunity.

Yes, he's from Wisconsin - midwest ties and all that. Last year at this time, Illinois fans were stating it was all but done because Shaka's grandparents were from Chicago and he loved the Cubs.

No one knows what he'll decide but himself and his family. We can all just put odds on it, and try to look smart afterwards.

And for those who keep up the "Teague/Smart" relationship. They weren't on good terms when Norwood left. Not saying they haven't repaired their relationship, but Norwood left quite abruptly and cut some ties (for a job which fit him best).

Hope the Gophs and Rams both end up in the best overall situation for next season!
 

I can easily understand why he'd turn down Illinois and NC State.

Supposedly, he turned down Illinois because he didn't want to deal with the scum that is the Chicago AAU system. I don't blame him for that. And NC State isn't that good of a program - they'll always be in the shadow of Duke and UNC, and there's the concern with conference realignment there. You wouldn't want to take the job and have the ACC implode and end up in a conference no better than the one you left.

I hadn't heard about Maryland, but I suspect that's a matter of timing. Had the announcement been made that the Terps will be coming to the Big Ten at the time, I can't see not taking that job.
 

howeda7 said:
If Shaka is ever going to leave VCU, this is the year he'll do it. There's such a thing as waiting too long. The Final Four is still fresh, the last two years have been good. UCLA and Minnesota (and others) would both love to have him. At some point teams will stop asking. I don't think Mark Few's phone rings as often anymore.
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Probably right that it's not ringing as much but all he'd have to do to remedy that is float his name one offseason. Just because they aren't asking doesn't mean they wouldn't be interested. If you're a successful coach there will always be interest.
 

Dirk Diggler said:
If Shaka comes to Minnesota over the legendary UCLA program (insane opportunity IMO) or staying at VCU it will be because--

-Great relationship with Teague and Ellis (having bosses you like is key for ANY job)
-The 2014 MN recruiting class Tyus, Vaughn, Travis. If Shaka can sweep in and get these guys that could be enough to springboard this program to being elite.
-He's from the midwest, so the idea of Minnesota doesn't sound like another planet

Personally, I think Shaka is crazy if he picks MN over UCLA. It's UCLA...but I will remain optimistic that Teague and Ellis' relationship will land Shaka.
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If he turns down UCLA it'll be because he fears the corruption with Agents out there. Recruiting in LA can be like walking through a minefield. You recruit the wrong kid with ties to an agent and getting improper benies and your coaching career can be effectively ruined.

I read somewhere that Shaka turned down Illinois because he was concerned about the corruption within the Chicago AAU. Minneapolis has a cleaner rep and would be safer if he is worried about avoiding sanctions and turmoil.
 

Sorry, folks. I still believe the report I heard, that somebody at this other program was told that Shaka was going to Minnesota, but obviously, either Shaka changed his mind, or the person telling the other program didn't have full knowledge of the situation. But obviously, somebody was wrong somewhere down the line.
 

jmag21 said:
Sorry, folks. I still believe the report I heard, that somebody at this other program was told that Shaka was going to Minnesota, but obviously, either Shaka changed his mind, or the person telling the other program didn't have full knowledge of the situation. But obviously, somebody was wrong somewhere down the line.
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It's hard to believe something wasn't up considering the number of reports floating around and the number of people who thought it was going to go that way, including local reporters. My guess is that Teague and Smart did agree in principle, and Shaka backed out. If true, it could have been family and friends who had as much influence on him as anything. That's how it plays out a lot of the time.
 

Doesn't matter now I guess. I fully support the firing of Tubby but now they need to get someone hired. Every day used for the search is a day lost in recruiting and preparing the current players for next year.
 

WolfontheProwl said:
Doesn't matter now I guess. I fully support the firing of Tubby but now they need to get someone hired. Every day used for the search is a day lost in recruiting and preparing the current players for next year.
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Recruiting this year is pretty much over and it's not like the new coach can start practice right away. If this thing isn't resolved the week after the final four then I might be concerned.
 

Bad Gopher said:
It's hard to believe something wasn't up considering the number of reports floating around and the number of people who thought it was going to go that way, including local reporters. My guess is that Teague and Smart did agree in principle, and Shaka backed out. If true, it could have been family and friends who had as much influence on him as anything. That's how it plays out a lot of the time.
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My guess is that somebody heard Teague was going to call Shaka, took that information and embellished and fed it to Jmag who added his own embellishments and fed it here....that's how rumors happen...Usually a series of embellishments. That's why I don't believe ANYTHING without a source willing to go on the record.
 

ZebH82 said:
My guess is that somebody heard Teague was going to call Shaka, took that information and embellished and fed it to Jmag who added his own embellishments and fed it here....that's how rumors happen...Usually a series of embellishments. That's why I don't believe ANYTHING without a source willing to go on the record.
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It's just that it wasn't only one source.
 

Recruiting for this year might be but every day the new coach will have recruiting the Big 3 for 2014 and anyone else in the future is important. If the fans don't like the hire it will take the new coach even longer to get the in roads to get to the type of players we need at the U to win. With some very good players coming up over the next four years every chance the coach can have to get in touch with these players will be important. Depending on who the new coach is maybe he is currently recruiting a player that could help this team as some big recruits are still out there. We could also see some mind changed with other schools making a coaching move.
 

ZebH82 said:
My guess is that somebody heard Teague was going to call Shaka, took that information and embellished and fed it to Jmag who added his own embellishments and fed it here....that's how rumors happen...Usually a series of embellishments. That's why I don't believe ANYTHING without a source willing to go on the record.
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But do you have a source ready to go on the record about the string of embellishments?
 

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