No Such Thing as a Perfect Candidate

If you read message boards or Twitter, you’ve seen a lot of names associated with the Virginia Tech job.  Remember that in college basketball coaching searches, most of what you read is false, and many times there is no way to pick between the rumors that have a possibility of being true and those that are outright untrue.

Some of those names you’ve heard are definitely interested in the job, and the Hokies would have a legit chance at many of them.  Others, not so much.  The Shaka Smart rumor was heavy at first, but not only do I think it never would have happened, I also don’t think it should have happened.

Smart would have demanded a big salary, likely as much or more than Tech currently pays Frank Beamer.  You know as well as I that no basketball coach at Virginia Tech is getting paid more than Frank Beamer.  Second, it would not surprise me to see UConn make a big run at Shaka whenever Jim Calhoun calls it quits.  That could be as early as next season.  And I definitely see Shaka taking a job at a big, established program like UConn.  I don’t want a coach who is going to be at Tech for only a year or two.

I’m not saying I want the next Frank Beamer.  That’s an unrealistic expectation.  But I also don’t want a guy who is going to be here for a couple of years, and if he does well, bounce at the first huge offer he gets.  That’s what Shaka would do, I think.  Even if he came in and did well for a year or two, some mega-program would come right in and reel him in, and then we’d start all over again.

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