Tonight was simply an embarrassment.
Abilene Christian. Who in the world is Abilene Christian?
I’ll tell you who Abilene Christian is. They’re the 14th ranked seed in the South that had 27 more shots than Texas on offense. They forced 23 turnovers on Texas. Abilene Christian nearly ten years ago was a terrible Division II team. Since becoming a Division I team, head coach Joe Golding is now 1-1 in the NCAA tournament.
Shaka Smart is 0-3.
Shaka Smart spent five years revamping and bringing to prominence the Men’s basketball team at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). After a great run there, he was hired in 2015 as the head coach of the University of Texas’ Men’s team. During his time at Texas, he has never won the Big 12 conference and has yet to advance in the NCAA Men’s tournament out of the first round despite having appearances in 2016, 2018 and 2021. In two out of three of those showings, Texas was the favorite to win. In 2016, they lost to 11th ranked Northern Iowa while they were ranked 6th, and of course the disaster that was tonights loss to Abilene Christian.
While Texas has certainly been a contender in the Big 12, they have never been a serious threat. This shows after five years now without having one win in the NCAA tournament. Regular season play is one thing, but continuing to choke in the first round each time you make it to the dance is unacceptable.
Texas, it’s time for you to move on from Shaka Smart and find yourself a coach that can lead your team to greatness. Shaka Smart is not the answer and he never will be. Cut your losses, and start from scratch.
Maybe you should see if Joe Golding is open to making a move…
