by Gopher+RamFan » Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:08 am
VCU fan here, I used to post when expansion talks were hot - I still check things out in hopes of one day being a hot enough commodity to get invited.
I think Shaka will do well at Marquette, provided he gets the right coaching staff around him. He's a great leader, inspirational, motivator and great in the public light. Marquette is roughly an hour from where he grew up, so he'll be excited to be near his mother again (who raised him by himself). I think he's a great recruiter, even at VCU he was signing top 15 classes right before he bolted for Texas.
Overall, he has fared better when he has a top assistant who is better at the X's and O's: Will Wade (LSU) and Mike Rhoades (VCU). I think he still hasn't won an NCAA tournament game without either of those coaches on the bench - although that stat might be outdated. If he can get someone on staff to handle that area, especially on the offensive side, he can create a program that should go to the NCAA tournament nearly every year. He went to the NCAAs at VCU 5 out of 6 seasons, and left us in good shape where we've gone to 9 out of the last 10 NCAA tournaments. I think he'll bounce back as a coach and do well at Marquette.