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Fire Shaka Smart


smokebomb

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Not that it matters, but Shaka's contract doesn't have a buyout. The $10.5M remaining is the guaranteed salary left, which is why our only hope of getting rid of Shaka was a soft landing - any money that his new employer paid him would offset what we would owe him.

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5 minutes ago, Red Five said:

"Welcome back Shaka! We couldn't find anyone who would take you, so I guess we're all in store for another exciting year of Texas basketball!"

Pretty much.

The sport is a second-class citizen at this university until proven otherwise.

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33 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Not that it matters, but Shaka's contract doesn't have a buyout. The $10.5M remaining is the guaranteed salary left, which is why our only hope of getting rid of Shaka was a soft landing - any money that his new employer paid him would offset what we would owe him.

Crazy contract for sure.  It could be difficult for Shaka to recruit well going forward.  Maybe he goes the route of a few more Juco and Grad transfers??

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15 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

Who was fucking reviewing our contracts during the Patterson/Perrin regimes?  Charlie’s had the bust where his USF salary doesn’t even mitigate what we have to keep paying him, and Shaka got a ridiculously long extension with no early buyout provision at all?  Those are both glaring mistakes and way off market terms.

Charlie's had a 50% offset.. USF paid him a much lower salary in his early years to take advantage of how the Longhorns contract was structured.  

Here's an article that explains:

On Tuesday, the South Florida revealed the contract details with new head coach Charlie Strong, which unsurprisingly took advantage of the fact that the Texas Longhorns still owe Strong $5.2 million for each of the next two seasons.

As a result, South Florida structured the contract so that Strong’s salary will increase from $1 million each of the next two years to $2.5 million in 2019 and increasing by $100,000 over the final two years.

Texas had a 50-percent offset in Strong’s contract, which means that the Longhorns will only save $500,000 a year on the buyout.

The same goes for the assistants who worked under Strong — the new South Florida coach is expected to retain a fair amount of his former staff and the available pool of money to pay them also looks similar, increasing from $1.66 million to $2.25 million and then to $3.4 million.

So the administrators at South Florida should probably thank former Texas athletic director Steve Patterson, whose contract with Strong will result in the Bulls getting a well-respected head coach and quality staff on the cheap.

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2016/12/13/13942368/charlie-strong-south-florida-bulls-contract-texas-longhorns-buyout

Edited by LTtxfan
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I'm starting to get kinda chippy about the $ arguments when it comes to buying out Beard.  I really don't think there's much chance that he's a flash in the pan.  If Texas Tech can pay him $4.5M per year then I would think it would be pretty simple for us to do the math regarding attendance, etc. and see our way clear to just biting the bullet and sending Shaka on his way.

There is no way UT with a new arena is less attractive to national recruits and national fans than Texas Fucking Tech.

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Just now, jimmyjazz said:

I'm starting to get kinda chippy about the $ arguments when it comes to buying out Beard.  I really don't think there's much chance that he's a flash in the pan.  If Texas Tech can pay him $4.5M per year then I would think it would be pretty simple for us to do the math regarding attendance, etc. and see our way clear to just biting the bullet and sending Shaka on his way.

There is no way UT with a new arena is less attractive to national recruits and national fans than Texas Fucking Tech.

If it were that cut and dry it would have been done.

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58 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is no way UT with a new arena is less attractive to national recruits and national fans than Texas Fucking Tech.

The real questions are A. is UT with a new arena more attractive to Chris Beard himself than Texas Fucking Tech; and B. is Chris Beard as valuable to UT as he is to Texas Fucking Tech?

We've got to wait until the UT job comes open to answer the first question, but the answer to the second is almost certainly no.

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1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm starting to get kinda chippy about the $ arguments when it comes to buying out Beard.  I really don't think there's much chance that he's a flash in the pan.

There is no way UT with a new arena is less attractive to national recruits and national fans than Texas Fucking Tech.

I dunno man, though older, the USA is a pretty  nice facility.  Secondly, currently under construction is a new 30 million dollar basketball workout facility  that is state of the art. Some really good facilities.

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Even if the facilities are on par, UT in Austin would have much more cachet with recruits than TT in Lubbock.  For one thing, Lubbock is 2 hours farther from Dallas than Austin is, and 5 hours farther from Houston.  That alone is an advantage.  As far as building a national basketball power is concerned, come on . . . if Beard were to do the same job in Austin that he's doing at Tech, the national buzz would be insane.

I'm not discounting the up front cost.  I'm just suggesting that, in a few years, I doubt anyone would care.  It's a risk, to be sure.  Keeping Shaka is a big risk too.

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My personal belief is recruits aren't really that in tune with living in a"cool" city or having a new arena. Although I readily admit that these elite athletes are exposed to more of Austin beforehand than I knew about it as an incoming freshman, I still think that the team members, the coach and the expected success of the team are more important. If I want to get coached up I go to Beard, If I'm Allen, Bamba, Hayes and am on the verge of making a boatload of $, I go to UT where the coach is my buddy and laid back and I don't have my tail kicked as I await the draft. 

Edited by Nolacycling
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10 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Chris Beard’s new contract includes a poison pill buyout targeting Texas

Hiring Beard next offseason would cost the Longhorns $16.5 million.

"Buying out the guaranteed contract for Smart would be expensive for Texas, too, as Smart will have $10.5 million left on the remaining four years of his contract following the 2019-20 season. As a result, unless the Horns negotiate a settlement with Smart after next season, it would cost $16.5 million just to hire Beard, on top of whatever raise would be necessary to convince him to leave Lubbock, likely at least $5 million per season to start since Beard is scheduled to make an average of $4.6 million under his new extension."

https://www.burntorangenation.com/2019/4/29/18523450/chris-beard-contract-buyout-texas-tech-texas-longhorns-shaka-smart

Though the quality of UT coaching jobs are obviously always a consideration in coaching hire circles, I'm not firmly convinced Beard's contract language was a poison pill specifically targeting UT.

KU could always be an attractive job if for some reason it came open. Lots of other quality programs in the conference as well.  If Hocutt were to go to OU at some point as some project as an example, they could always become a potential suitor.

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1 minute ago, Nolacycling said:

If I want to get coached up I go to Beard, If I'm Allen, Bamba, Hayes and am on the verge of making a boatload of $, I go to UT where the coach is my buddy and laid back and I don't have my tail kicked as I await the draft. 

So would recruits who want to get coached up by Beard come to Austin?

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Beard is probably going to have RJ Hampton next year,  who just reclassified to the 2019 class today. Oh and he replaced Duke with Texas Tech on his list of 4 schools under a consideration. A list that doesn't include Texas.  I'd hold off on your idea of what's more attractive for basketball recruits.  Basketball recruiting is a different beast than football.  Yes,  all things being equal,  Texas should be more attractive,  but we're anything but equal at this stage.  

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4 minutes ago, pigmeat markham said:

Though the quality of UT coaching jobs are obviously always a consideration in coaching hire circles, I'm not firmly convinced Beard's contract language was a poison pill specifically targeting UT.

KU could always be an attractive job if for some reason it came open. Lots of other quality programs in the conference as well.  If Hocutt were to go to OU at some point as some project as an example, they could always become a potential suitor.

Thank you

Hiring Beard next offseason would cost the Longhorns $16.5 million.

Edited by Nolacycling
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27 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Even if the facilities are on par, UT in Austin would have much more cachet with recruits than TT in Lubbock.  For one thing, Lubbock is 2 hours farther from Dallas than Austin is, and 5 hours farther from Houston.  That alone is an advantage.  As far as building a national basketball power is concerned, come on . . . if Beard were to do the same job in Austin that he's doing at Tech, the national buzz would be insane.

I'm not discounting the up front cost.  I'm just suggesting that, in a few years, I doubt anyone would care.  It's a risk, to be sure.  Keeping Shaka is a big risk too.

Catdaddy's point regarding basketball recruiting being a different animal is correct and well taken IMO.  This year's TT roster as an example had players from the Dominican Republic, Va, Ariz, Md, Illinois, Ark, Italy, France, Ga., etc.

And I understand well the national name that UT is as well as its significance.  That said, perhaps as a non TT fan some of the national buzz created by Beard currently has escaped you.  It has been immense.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Beard is probably going to have RJ Hampton next year,  who just reclassified to the 2019 class today. Oh and he replaced Duke with Texas Tech on his list of 4 schools under a consideration. A list that doesn't include Texas.  I'd hold off on your idea of what's more attractive for basketball recruits.  Basketball recruiting is a different beast than football.  Yes,  all things being equal,  Texas should be more attractive,  but we're anything but equal at this stage.  

It's almost as if nobody is reading what I wrote.  I'm saying Beard could almost surely recruit better to Austin than Lubbock.  I'm not drawing comparisons between the two programs in their current states.

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2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm starting to get kinda chippy about the $ arguments when it comes to buying out Beard.  I really don't think there's much chance that he's a flash in the pan.  If Texas Tech can pay him $4.5M per year then I would think it would be pretty simple for us to do the math regarding attendance, etc. and see our way clear to just biting the bullet and sending Shaka on his way.

There is no way UT with a new arena is less attractive to national recruits and national fans than Texas Fucking Tech.

giphy.gif

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6 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's almost as if nobody is reading what I wrote.  I'm saying Beard could almost surely recruit better to Austin than Lubbock.  I'm not drawing comparisons between the two programs in their current states.

Oh, I think I understand.  In football regarding Austin/Lubbock that's certainly the case.  Basketball not the case IMO.  See my TT roster post above.  Different creatures totally.

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5 minutes ago, pigmeat markham said:

Oh, I think I understand.  In football regarding Austin/Lubbock that's certainly the case.  Basketball not the case IMO.  See my TT roster post above.  Different creatures totally.

I fail to see how the current Tech roster says anything about how Beard might recruit in Austin.

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1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I fail to see how the current Tech roster says anything about how Beard might recruit in Austin.

You posted "Even if the facilities are on par, UT in Austin would have much more cachet with recruits than TT in Lubbock.  For one thing, Lubbock is 2 hours farther from Dallas than Austin is, and 5 hours farther from Houston.  That alone is an advantage."

Of course, there's no doubt Beard could recruit well in Austin.  My simple point in regard to the TT roster is given its national, even international make up, a school being closer to Dallas and Houston doesn't amount to a pile of shit in the cantaloupe patch as an advantage.  He can recruit as well in West Texas as he can in Central Texas.

Edited by pigmeat markham
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1 minute ago, pigmeat markham said:

You posted "Even if the facilities are on par, UT in Austin would have much more cachet with recruits than TT in Lubbock.  For one thing, Lubbock is 2 hours farther from Dallas than Austin is, and 5 hours farther from Houston.  That alone is an advantage."

Of course, there's no doubt Beard could recruit well in Austin.  My simple point in regard to the TT roster is given its national, even international make up, a school being closer to Dallas and Houston doesn't amount to a pile of shit in the cantaloupe as an advantage.  He can recruit as well in West Texas as he can in Central Texas.

It's a factor.  It should be easier to recruit Dallas and Houston blue chips to Austin than Lubbock, and not just because Lubbock is . . . Lubbock.  Proximity matters to a lot of kids and their families.

But even so, I just don't see how Beard's current roster is proof that he has recruited better.  Admittedly, I don't follow basketball recruiting much -- I couldn't be less interested in AAU ball, etc. -- is it your assertion that those kids were as highly thought of as those on the UT roster?  I would not be shocked if they were mostly the beneficiaries of a coach who actually knows how to develop players and coach X's and O's.

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5 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Taking one and done players seems to have resulted in championships in only a few places right??

Maybe Duke, Kentucky and UNC.....

Yes, but isn't it common to have more than one or to have the penultimate stud at these schools? 

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

But even so, I just don't see how Beard's current roster is proof that he has recruited better.  Admittedly, I don't follow basketball recruiting much -- I couldn't be less interested in AAU ball, etc. -- is it your assertion that those kids were as highly thought of as those on the UT roster?  I would not be shocked if they were mostly the beneficiaries of a coach who actually knows how to develop players and coach X's and O's.

I decided to take a quick look.  I used 247 rankings -- they might suck, I don't know.  Take it with a grain of salt:

2019:  UT 14 (3 commits), TT 16 (6 commits)

2018:  UT 8 (5 commits), TT 33 (4 commits)

2017:  UT 6 (5 commits), TT 39 (7 commits)

 

Doesn't look like Beard is pulling the same type of players to Lubbock . . . yet.  Can he?  Who knows.  Can it be done in Austin?  Well, yeah.  Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart both recruited extremely well to Texas.  You'd have to argue that Beard would somehow be incapable of doing so, and that just doesn't seem very likely.

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2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's almost as if nobody is reading what I wrote.  I'm saying Beard could almost surely recruit better to Austin than Lubbock.  I'm not drawing comparisons between the two programs in their current states.

Maybe, maybe not. For whatever reason Texas basketball hasn't made much headway into the DFW AAU scene over the last 15 years. Their top of the line players barely look our way anymore. The only big name guys we've gotten to look our way in recent years were late bloomers like Andrew Jones and Myles Turner. We don't even make final 10 list for most of them. 

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28 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Maybe, maybe not. For whatever reason Texas basketball hasn't made much headway into the DFW AAU scene over the last 15 years. Their top of the line players barely look our way anymore. The only big name guys we've gotten to look our way in recent years were late bloomers like Andrew Jones and Myles Turner. We don't even make final 10 list for most of them. 

Things may be changing as I type this:

RJ Hampton just took Duke off his commitment board and added Texas Tech - https://247sports.com/college/basketball/recruiting/Article/RJ-Hampton-Reclassify-20

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43 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Maybe, maybe not. For whatever reason Texas basketball hasn't made much headway into the DFW AAU scene over the last 15 years.

OK, I'm going to have to take these on one by one.  Right now Beard apparently has a roster loaded with talent from "Dominican Republic, Va, Ariz, Md, Illinois, Ark, Italy, France, Ga., etc.".

So, it would seem he's probably not plundering Dallas AAU clubs either.  Is there an actual argument that supports the idea that BEARD at Tech could recruit as well or better as BEARD at UT?

Edited by jimmyjazz
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19 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

OK, I'm going to have to take these on one by one.  Right now Beard apparently has a roster loaded with talent from "Dominican Republic, Va, Ariz, Md, Illinois, Ark, Italy, France, Ga., etc.".

So, it would seem he's probably not plundering Dallas AAU clubs either.  Is there an actual argument that supports the idea that BEARD at Tech could recruit as well or better as BEARD at UT?

There are indications that could be the case. A class full of 4 stars and one of the top 5s in the country deciding he wants to look at Tech. This has never been the recruiting history of Tech. Ever.

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2 hours ago, Brian Fantana said:

I'm not quite sure Beard cares much about getting players like Mo Bamba who clearly do not give the slightest shit about the team they're playing for and are just waiting to get paid.

This is fucking inane. How exactly did Bamba, a dude who as a potential top 10 pick played on a fucking stress fracture, ever exhibit not giving a shit about the team? Not to mention there's a 247 article out today detailing how Beard's was the first call RJ Hampton, a certified one and done, received when he decided to reclassify to the class of 2019 today. Look, Beard is a fucking awesome coach, but this incessant need to imbue upon him all this noble and high minded bullshit about who he is willing to recruit is getting out of hand. As long as the player isn't an absolute asshole Beard is  going to take an elite talent everyday of the fucking week like every other college coach. 

Edited by Catdaddyhorn
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I dunno man, though older, the USA is a pretty  nice facility.  Secondly, currently under construction is a new 30 million dollar basketball workout facility  that is state of the art. Some really good facilities.


Something to remember about Tech’s basketball arena is that the school owns it lock, stock, and barrel. They control what happens there. If Chris Beard doesn’t want Paul McCartney or Guns N Roses or George Strait to play there when it interferes with his team, it won’t happen. And it’s a sweet, SWEEEEET place for a basketball game or a concert

UT is “getting” a new arena, but they will be beholden to the owners, who need to make money off of it. Great deal from a financial standpoint, but not as much for building a great basketball program. It will be an improvement over the current situation, but there are some drawbacks, too.

Beard will have his new practice facility shortly and at that point, will arguably have the best facilities situation in the country. Definitely one of the best situations. That means something to a coach.
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48 minutes ago, Satchel said:

There are indications that could be the case. A class full of 4 stars and one of the top 5s in the country deciding he wants to look at Tech. This has never been the recruiting history of Tech. Ever.

There are indications that Beard would not be able to pull a class full of 4 stars and one of the top 5 in the country to UT?  You know, the school that routinely lands 4 stars and sometimes the best fucking player in college basketball who sometimes goes on to become the best fucking player in the NBA?

Where is the evidence that Chris Beard could recruit better at Tech than he could at Texas?  I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.  

I also feel like we've been invaded by several Tech grads who are high as kites.

Edited by jimmyjazz
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40 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

This is fucking inane. How exactly did Bamba, a dude who as a potential top 10 pick played on a fucking stress fracture, ever exhibit not giving a shit about the team? Not to mention there's a 247 article out today detailing how Beard's was the first call RJ Hampton, a certified one and done, received when he decided to reclassify to the class of 2019 today. Look, Beard is a fucking awesome coach, but this incessant need to imbue upon him all this noble and high minded bullshit about who he is willing to recruit is getting out of hand. As long as the player isn't an absolute asshole Beard is  going to take an elite talent everyday of the fucking week like every other college coach. 

I mean yeah I'm not saying he wouldn't want to take any potential one and dones, that would be completely inane. I've just read things about Bamba that make me think he wouldn't be Beard's type of player. If I'm wrong I'm wrong.

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3 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

I mean yeah I'm not saying he wouldn't want to take any potential one and dones, that would be completely inane. I've just read things about Bamba that make me think he wouldn't be Beard's type of player. If I'm wrong I'm wrong.

You’re wrong. Bamba was a great guy and gave everything he had for the team.

Your earlier nonsense about him not giving a shit about the team and waiting to get paid is not accurate at all.

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13 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

You’re wrong. Bamba was a great guy and gave everything he had for the team.

Your earlier nonsense about him not giving a shit about the team and waiting to get paid is not accurate at all.

I'm willing to concede being wrong on that one.

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43 minutes ago, Ghost of Shag said:

"Our basketball program sucks" talk not going away.  

Yeah, seeing that Shaka's buyout after next season is still over $10 mill feels like getting slammed around by The Hulk.....

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You guys are debating recruiting like it really matters anyway.  The reason Beard is so hot is because he took 3 guys that didn't really have much noise and made them get drafted early.  He took recruits that no one wanted and got the big12 title and a national title appearance.  He doesn't need to recruit because he can find and develop players.  He didn't lose to UT or KU who had superior talents.  He won with less.  He doesn't need more to win, that's why he is such a hot name with a fat wallet.

Also... Tech, being in the shithole of the nation probably has a lot of fucking weird majors and grad degrees that aren't common so it could be very attractive for grad transfers that have to switch majors to get an extra year.

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6 hours ago, Jhawk said:

Also... Tech, being in the shithole of the nation probably has a lot of fucking weird majors and grad degrees that aren't common so it could be very attractive for grad transfers that have to switch majors to get an extra year.

Well, that's pretty funny coming from a guy who's the fan of a school located in the so very urbane metropolis of Lawrence, Kansas, (.that's right, Kansas) a town roughly a third the size of Lubbock.  

And your logic that since Tech is located in the "shithole of the nation (as opposed to Lawrence who is frequently mistaken for Paris) probably has a lot of fucking weird majors and grad degrees" is most certainly irrefutable.   They  only have an enrollment of 40000 within the next year or two, so clearly they have to have weird majors to get anyone to go there.

Somebody got their feelers hurt by not winning the conference title this year.

 

 

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Well, that's pretty funny coming from a guy who's the fan of a school located in the so very urbane metropolis of Lawrence, Kansas, (.that's right, Kansas) a town roughly a third the size of Lubbock.  
And your logic that since Tech is located in the "shithole of the nation (as opposed to Lawrence who is frequently mistaken for Paris) probably has a lot of fucking weird majors and grad degrees" is most certainly irrefutable.   They  only have an enrollment of 40000 within the next year or two, so clearly they have to have weird majors to get anyone to go there.
Somebody got their feelers hurt by not winning the conference title this year.
 
 

Even with their head coach arranging for illegal payments to recruits.
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