Let's review Marquette... & Wojo Replacement Discussion...

[NJRedman]

40 minutes of hell vs havok twice a year should be a blast!

[Xudash]

40 minutes of hell vs havok twice a year should be a blast!

You beat me to it, except I would substitute "pain in the arse" for "blast". VCU could be a fouling machine when they turned that stuff loose against you, and not all the calls were made to tamper it down.

[GreatDaneAttorney]

At least Shaka has a pretty high floor--I don't think Marquette will regress in his tenure. I still think he mostly ascended the coaching ladder by shrewdly taking advantage of rules that were later changed, not sure that he's shown the ability to adapt or that he's just a one-trick pony.

[sju88grad]

Congrats Marquette! I think it's a great hire......I think he'll recruit well and get Marquette regularly battling for NCAA bids....

Good look for the league as well to finally have a coach LEAVE a P5 program for the Big East vs. the other direction which has happened more frequently....

[micgoG'town]

I think this is a great hire for Marquette. In between VCU and the lunacy at Texas. I'm predicting consistently good seasons and long term marriage.

[Django]

Congrats Marquette! I think it's a great hire......I think he'll recruit well and get Marquette regularly battling for NCAA bids....

Good look for the league as well to finally have a coach LEAVE a P5 program for the Big East vs. the other direction which has happened more frequently....

What’s a P5? I know F5, is that what you meant?

[anXUfan]

In my experience, people from Wisconsin love people from Wisconsin. This Shaka hire might work out.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

.
One year ago today:

Shaka Smart to return to Texas for 2020-21 season - Stephen Wagner, The Daily Texan – March 27, 2020

Shaka Smart’s current annual salary is $3.3 million, with another $795,000 in bonuses and incentives.

Marquette made a great move to land Shaka Smart as coach, but what he did by leaving Texas was pure genius - Gary Parrish - March 26, 2021

Smart's shrewd move to leave the Longhorns, made in the spirit of career preservation, was the right call

As a big Marquette fan, I’m quite pleased with the hire. Shaka Smartis a very experienced and respected coach who has as good of chance as anyone of holding onto Marquette’s highly-touted freshmen and 2021 recruits:

Marquette 2020 Basketball Commits – 247Sports - Updated January 13, 2021

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PF • Dawson Garcia • Prior Lake (Prior Lake, MN) • 6-11 / 220 • Rating: 0.9856 • National Ranking: 37 • Pos. Ranking: PF #4

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PF • Justin Lewis • Baltimore Polytech. Inst. (Baltimore, MD) • 6-7 / 225 • Rating: 0.9611• National Ranking: 104 • Pos. Ranking: PF #16

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PF • Osasere Ighodaro • Desert Vista (Phoenix, AZ)• 6-9 / 205 • Rating: 0.9370 • National Ranking: 133• Position Ranking: PF #24

Marquette Golden Eagles Stats 2020-21 - ESPN

Freshman Dawson Garcia is leading Marquette in scoring (13.1 PPG) and rebounding (6.7 RPG).

Marquette 2021 Basketball Commits – 247Sports - Updated February 24, 2021

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ C • Jonas Aidoo • Liberty Heights Athletic Inst. (Charlotte, NC) • 6-11 / 215 • Rating: 0.9775 • National Ranking: 60 • Pos. Ranking: C #7

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PG • Stevie Mitchell • Wilson (Reading, PA) • 6-2 / 175 • Rating: 0.9659 • National Ranking: 86 • Position Ranking: PG #13

⭐️⭐️⭐️ SG • Kameron Jones • Evangelical Christian (Cordova, TN) • 6-4 / 180 • Rating: 0.9037 • National Ranking: 162• Position Ranking: SG #35

Marquette Golden Eagles Basketball Scholarship Chart & 5-Year Roster - VerbalCommits.com
.

[MUBoxer]

In my experience, people from Wisconsin love people from Wisconsin. This Shaka hire might work out.

+1 it's weird. Wisconsin is six degrees of Kevin Bacon conversations I've witnessed that are pretty much this: "oh you went to that high school across the state? My sister in law's brother once stopped there on a snow mobiling trip do you know him?" "Yes! We're best friends and going hunting next weekend"

[GoldenWarrior11]

On the MU-Shaka hire. Outstanding news, as it provides a much needed jolt of energy, interest and optimism into the Marquette Basketball program. So many thoughts from yesterday, so I will try and condense as much as possible.

Shaka was nearly, and by nearly - it was as close to being introduced with a press conference for the following day, named as MUBB head coach in 2014. Our (then) administration identified Shaka as our number one candidate, and there was heavy interest on both sides to seeing something get done. Ultimately, it very much sounded like Shaka, and his family, were uneasy about MU having a (then) interim President, interim AD and the long-term vision of the school and program unsettled. Shaka wanted to be here then, as much as he wanted to be here now. Sometimes life comes full circle, and it was a wonderful narrative to help the program get back on track.

MUBB, with Wojo, was not on an upward trajectory. Fans were apathetic with the program, where the two NCAAT appearances in seven years (zero wins) was not met with anger or hatred, but rather with carelessness and lack of interest. MU loves Wojo very much. Really nice guy, great family, cared about his players (who graduated) and represented the university as best as anyone could. Had MU been more consistent, his (respectfully) bland personality was very boring, uninteresting and, at times, frustrating. His coach speak after bad losses grew tiresome, especially after embarrassments (Murray State, Hausergate, Georgetown, etc.). Many MU fans genuinely want Wojo to get another opportunity at another program where he has an opportunity to be successful. I don't think he is a fit for a P5 school. I think he would do well to follow Anthony Grant and Travis Ford in the A10, as he is an East Coast guy and his a great recruiter. I do not think he should return to Duke. If anything, Wojo needs to move away from that Duke connection and perhaps learn under a different tree. The Duke style does not work every where.

For Texas, the Shaka hire was never really a fit to begin with. Shaka never coached in Texas. Texas fired Rick Barnes, a coach with numerous tournament appearances, a Final Four, two Elite Eights, two Sweet 16s and three regular season conference championships. I give Shaka a ton of credit for not attempting to duplicating HAVOC at Texas. He attempted to utilize more of an NBA-style of play to recruit higher level of players to varying degrees of success. Shaka has made the NCAAT in eight of his twelve seasons as head coach (with one being COVID). The demands of Marquette and Texas are radically different, despite somewhat similar program accomplishments; Marquette has won a National Championship (Texas has not); both have made three Final Fours; both have similar amount of NCAAT appearances (35 to 33). However, Marquette will not run out a head coach for failing to make the Final Four or Elite Eight (where Texas will). For Marquette, the expectation is to make the NCAAT most years (and if you miss it one year, the expectation should be to return the next year); if we do get a deep run (like a F4 with Wade, an E8 with Butler/Crowder or a S16 - that is icing on the cake). Texas has higher (and some would say unrealistic) demands that few can satisfy (similar to Indiana, to a much lesser extent).

Anyways, we are very excited to welcome Shaka Smart home to Marquette and to Wisconsin. Ticket sales are up, donations to the school are up, and the future of MUBB is brighter than its been it quite some time.