According to multiple reports VCU is set to hire Florida assistant Shaka Smart as its new head coach of basketball. A press conference will be held in the next 48 hours to make it official.
SI.com and CBSSports.com reported Smart will take over for Anthony Grant, who left VCU for Alabama last week. Grant, was also an assistant at Florida.
Smart, who will turn 32 in April, served under Billy Donovan for one season. Smart also had assistant coaching stints under Oliver Purnell at Clemson and Keith Dumbrot at Akron.
Smart played his college basketball at Kenyon College and graduated Magna cum laude in 1999 with a degree in history. A four-year starter and three-year captain, he holds the Kenyon assist record for a season (184) and a career (542). As a senior, he was an All-North Coast Conference selection and was the NCAC Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was one of 20 student-athletes selected for the 1999 USA Today All-USA Academic team and received a NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
Just hours after Billy Donovan announced his intentions to stay in Florida. The University of Alabama announced it had reached an agreement in principle with Anthony Grant to become the next head coach of the Crimson Tide.
"We have been given the opportunity to create a very special situation for men's basketball at the University of Alabama and we look forward to getting started," said Grant. "There's a commitment throughout the athletic department to make sure that we have the resources necessary to compete for championships."
Grant met with Alabama officials in Richmond last weekend and then toured the campus Wednesday.
The deal seemed to stale late in the week with the speculation surrounding Kentucky's interest in the University of Florida's head coach Billy Donovan following the firing if Billy Gillespie.
The 42-year-old Grant previously served as an assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida from 1996-2006 before becoming the head coach at VCU. When Donovan was rumored to be making a move to the NBA in 2007 Grant was considered to be his replacement. His career record with the Rams was 76-25, with a 45-9 conference mark, including a notable upset of the Duke Blue Devils in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Grant also has three regular season titles and two conference tournament titles in his three tenure.
Alabama finished 18-14 in 2008-09, with a 7-9 mark in the SEC. The Crimson Tide were ousted in the second round of the conference tourney by eventual runner-up Tennessee.
VCU will now begin the arduous task of trying to replace Grant. Rumor has it VCU will pursue one of Grant's assistants Tony Pujols. The idea being Pujols will be able to keep the remaining team intact as well as enticing top recruit Ben Eblen to honor his letter of intent.
The RTD confirmed that the University of Alabama has received permission to talk to VCU basketball coach Anothy Grant.
VCU athletic director Norwood Teague was contacted by his Alabama counterpart, Mal Moore, late Saturday night. Teague granted access to the 42 year old coach on Monday.
Alabama has been developing its list of candidates since mid-January after Mark Gottfried was forced to resign as the Crimson Tide's head coach.
Gottfried posted a record of 210-132 in 10 plus seasons with Alabama. He guided the Tide to their first number 1 ranking in School history in 2002. In 2004 he took his team to its first ever Elite Eight appearence. The Tide are coming off their second straight losing season in the SEC.
In addition to Alabama, Grant has been mentioned as the leading candidate for the head coaching vacancies at Virginia and Georgia. Georgia has denied any contact. According to the RTD, Georgia Sports Information Director Claude Felton strongly denied the report, saying "in my time here at UGA, I don't know that I have seen more erroneous reporting."
There are also rumors circulating that Grant maybe in consideration for the head coaching position at Kentucky should current head coach Billy Gillispie not be retained.
Grant was named the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth on April 18, 2006, and guided the Rams to NCAA tournament berths in 2007 and 2009 and to the National Invitation Tournament in 2008.
He has compiled a 76-24 record at the school, including an astounding 45-9 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Grant has 3 CAA regular season titles and 2 Conference Tournament titles in his 3 years at VCU.
Anthony Grant is currently under contract through the 2013-14 season at an estimated $700,000 annually, with performance bonuses that could push it past $850,000.
Everyone is anxiously awaiting the tip of the VCU/UCLA game. The game has been pushed back to 10:05 pm from its original 9:50 tip off time.
VCU has been getting a lot of National Attention and seems to be the consensus upset pick of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Seth Davis, Jay Bilas, Greg Anthony, Reggie Miller and President Obama are just a few of the big names that have endorsed VCU.
The game will feature a match up of two of college basketball's elite guards in Eric Maynor and Darren Collison. Maynor famously lead VCU past Duke in the 2007 NCAA's and is a two time CAA Player of the Year. Collison has lead his Bruins to the last three Final Fours.
And here we go...
VCU takes the tip.
19:25 Joey turns it over on a cross court pass intended or Maynor.
19:23 Foul on Burgess. Bilas: "VCU is 2-6 when Larry Sanders fouls out."
18:36 Foul on Sanders. UCLA takes the early lead 1-0.
18:01 Maynor hits a jumper with time running down on the shot clock. VCU up 2-1. Kirill "The Kremlin" Pishchalnikov falls down awkwardly. Sparking conversation concerning his recent articles in the RTD. Apparently basketball is not well followed in his hometown of Mykop, Russia.
16:35 Dragovic hits UCLA first jumper from the field. UCLA up 3-2. Queue the comparisons of Dragovic to Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV. "I will break you." Dick Enberg just annointed Larry Sanders "Larry the Landlord." TJ and Easy Ed Nixon are in for the Rams.
16:00 Collison just scored his first bucket. Joey turns it over for a break away bucket by Holiday. He is obviously intimdated.
14:40 TJ scored his second bucket in a row. UCLA 10 VCU .
13:54 UCLA gets another steal off a Joey turnover. Holiday takes the ball on the face break. Easy Ed Nixon tries to draw a charge. Layup and foul. Joey is struggling right now. There is a clear height disadvantage with Holiday. Bilas: "VCU cant handle the UCLA pressure."
13:33 Rozzell knocks down a three from the corner. That is a good sign for the Rams. Maynor is going to need all the help he can get. UCLA takes the early lead 13 to 11.
VCU needs to get the ball to Larry Sanders in the post. UCLA's big mean are clearly not an offensive threat. We are going to need some sort of presence down low to take pressure off of Maynor.
Ben Howland said earlier this week that Holiday is the best on ball defender he has seen. He is a true freshman. I am surprised that he isnt marking Maynor. Then again with all the Maynor talk this week Collison probably feels he has something to prove.
10:34 Its a defensive struggle at this point. VCU is playing good defense in the half court set. Maynor drawls a foul and will get two from the line. Bilas: "Jim Laranega calls him the Magician." Maynor hits both freebies. The game is tied at 13.
9:23 Collison just picked up his second foul. Maynor hits the 2 free throws. VCU 15 UCLA 16. Kremlin checks back into the game.
9:00 Maynor is fouled again. This time by James Keefe. He cant make the front end of the one and one. Dragovic nails a three on the other end. Where is Kremlin? He needs to get out there put the iron curtain down.
7:57 Another three from Dragovic. Just like that UCLA is up 22-15. I hear a Rocky IV quote coming on...
"If he dies... he dies."
Maynor needs to play up the Rocky comparison I have working here. Burgess could be Apollo here. Assuming we could rewrite the movie to have Apollo survive his fight with Ivan Drago.
7:21 He heard me say that! Burgess answers Dragovic with a three of his own.
6:47 Joey just nailed a three! He might have found his mojo. Rams down by one, 22-21 UCLA. Holiday turns over on the other end. Rams might be stealing some momentum here.
6:00 Maynor heads to the bench for a breather. Joey draws a foul from Anderson and is headed to the line for a one and one. He cans both of the free throws. Rams on an 8-0 run. VCU 23-UCLA 22.
4:58 Larry Sanders picks up his second foul and heads to the bench. TJ Gwynn is checking back in. He has been huge so far hopefully he can keep it going.
4:10 Shipp cans a 10 footer for his first bucket of the game. UCLA takes a 27-23 lead.
3:42 Another turnover by the Rams. Joey fouls Shipp to prevent the breakaway. Shipp hits a three off the reset. UCLA up 30-23.
2:34 Joey air ball and UCLA is in transition. Shipp with another bucket. UCLA is up 9 now. Rozzell is back in the game for Joey. Shipp has clearly moved in the role of Ivan Drago here. He single handedly taking it to the VCU defense.
1:24 UCLA is up 35-23 on the Collison bucket. VCU answers with lay up by the Kremlin. VCU 25-UCLA 35. Enberg just announced that the Kremlin's brother and sister are Olympic level discus throwers. I need to find out more about this!
Final seconds of the opening period. Maynor has the ball. Eric dishes to TJ for an open look. The shot is off the back of the rim. VCU 25 UCLA 35 at the half. UCLA ends the half on a 13-2 run.
Josh Shipp and Nikola Dragovic lead all scorers with 8 points. Maynor is the high man for the Rams with 6 points. The turnovers have been the story of the game. VCU has 9 and UCLA is nearly even with 8.
This really is starting to look like a Rocky movie. Our hero, VCU, is down early but he isn't out of the match. The Rams just need to keep absorbing the punches from UCLA so they can make the last minute come back.
The Second Half is under way...
19:17 Larry scores the first bucket of the Half. UCLA 35-VCU 27.
18:34 Another bucket from Larry Sanders. VCU is with in 8. Joey misses a three on a breakaway. Joey misses another three. Come on son!! I need you!!!
17:19 Aboya hits two from the line following the foul from Joey. UCLA is back up by 10, 39-29.
16:32 Burgess hits a three to get he Rams back to with in 7.
15:51 Maynor takes Collison to the hoop. And 1! That is Collison's third foul. Maynor cant hit the free throw. VCU 34 UCLA 39.
15:28 Collison turns it over. Holiday has moved over to guard Maynor. Collison has moved over to Rozzell. Maynor moves past Holiday and draws a foul from Aboya, his second. Best on ball defender you have every seen? We shall see Coach Howland. We shall see!
14:39 Gwynn is huge right now. We need to find some way to quantify hustle plays statisticly. He has had at least 4 good hustle/game changing/energy type plays. He is my pick for player of the game at this point.
14:01 Jay Bilas "Ed Nixon is VCU's best athlete." That is simply hilarious.
13:42 Maynor hits a trade mark floater. UCLA answers with a Josh Shipp lay up.
13:13 Maynor feeds Sanders for a dunk. UCLA 43 VCU 38.
12:21 Maynor is out for a breather. VCU needs to make some stops. They cant keep trading buckets.
12:12 Josh Shipp just drew a third foul from Larry Sanders. He hits 2 from the line. UCLA up 7. The third foul on Sanders is huge. Did I mention we are 2-6 when he fouls out? VCU 38 UCLA 45.
TV Timeout!
11:57 TJ feeds Sanders in the post. Larry draws the foul and is going to the line. I need more TJ!
Before we get to the free throws we will here from out sponsors. TV Time Out!
Sanders hits 1 of 2 from the line. VCU is now down by 6.
11:00 Hot Nix with the put back. Bilas: "Nixon is one of the best athletes on this team." Again, I can only laugh.
10:30 Another hustle play by TJ to keep the possession alive for VCU. Maynor is fouled. He hits both shots. VCU 43 UCLA 47.
9:52 Larry hits 1-2 from the line. VCU down by 5. Bilas: "No one has brought more energy to the game then TJ Gwynn." I am going to go ahead and make TJ our Mick for the sake of my running Rocky Comparison. Naturally Coach Grant should play Mick but TJ is bringing the energy at this point.
"Get the Chicken Rock!"
9:26 Maynor draws a fourth foul from Collison. Who promptly heads to bench. This could be the turning point.
On the inbound play Ivan Dragovic flops to drawn a foul from TJ. The refs head to the monitor to see if it was a flagrant. No call. UCLA to inbound. Holiday is running the point in Collison's absence. He nails a jumper off the screen. UCLA 51 VCU 44.
8:22 Holiday hits two free throws to put UCLA up by 9.
7:57 Holiday hits a floater to put UCLA up 55 to 44. Collison's fourth personal was a turning point. UCLA is pulling away behind a offensive blitz from the UCLA freshman. Rams need to get some stops if they want to stay in this game.
7:28 Holiday commits his third foul on Eric Maynor. Eric hits both from the line. VCU 46 UCLA 55. Maynor is not shooting well but he is making up for from the line.
6:30 Sanders just got worked by Alfred Aboya. Aboya double pumps and spins around a committed Sanders for the dunk. UCLA 57 VCU 46. Burgess with an assist from Maynor answers with a lay up.
5:39 TJ Gwynn gets a lay up. 57-50 UCLA. TJ gets my vote for player of the game. Yeah, I said it again. He has 6 points and 5 boards and about 100 energy plays.
5:13 Collison puts UCLA back up by 9 with two free throws. Collison has only missed 10 free throws all year. Thanks Dick Enberg!
4:11 Maynor is 3-11 from the field. He hits a floater. Make that 4-12.
3:45 Another Maynor bucket. UCLA 61 VCU 55.
3:13 Joey hits a three. VCU 58 UCLA 61. Assist from Maynor.
2:42 Collison drives for a lay up. 63-58 UCLA.
1:58 Block by Sanders! TJ with a layup from assist from Maynor. VCU 60 UCLA 63. VCU is pressing out of the reset.
1:19 Collison breaks past Joey and dishes. Rebound Rams. A streaking Burgess is fouled by Holiday. Rams are in the bonus. Burgess will shoot two from the line. Rams could cut the lead to one!
TV TIMEOUT!
Burgess hits both shots. VCU is within 1!
57.0 Gwynn picks up a foul sending Aboya to the line. He hits both. UCLA up 65-62.
ANOTHER TV TIMEOUT!
48.0 Maynor goes straight to the rim and draws the foul on the double team. He hits both. Rams down 1. UCLA 65 Rams 64.
YET ANOTHER TV TIMEOUT!
Come on VCU!
Here we go. Final 30 seconds. UCLA ball. Nixon is on Holiday. Maynor is on Collison and Burgess on Shipp. Collison goes to the rim and Larry Sanders comes out of no where and throws his mess out of the paint!!!!! Rams ball with 11.1 to go.
2 Seconds add to the clock. 13.0 to go. VCU to inbound. UCLA is in the full court press. Collison on Maynor. UCLA take a timeout to set their defense. For all the marbles! VCU inbounds to Maynor. Maynor drives right and stumbles. He picks up his dribble. Double pumps and misses the pull up.
UCLA wins 65-64.
Crushing defeat...
Maynor finishes with a game high 21 points on 5-16 shooting. He scored 10 points from the free throw line. The senior also added 6 rebounds and 6 assists in 40 minutes of action. Larry Sanders scored 10 points and grabbed 12 boards to secure his first NCAA Tournament double double. TJ Gwynn 8 points and 5 boards and brought the most energy of the court. Josh Shipp lead the Bruins with 16 points and 8 boards. Collison added 10 points and 2 assists for UCLA who will advance to face Villanova on Saturday.
Too Much Media Attention 03/18/2009 @The White House
President Obama joined with the millions of other American's caught up in March Madness when ESPN unveiled his NCAA Tournament Bracket today. The president made each of his selections on an over sized white board adorned with the presidential seal. The big reveal was recorded Tuesday from the White House Map Room as part of ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge.
The commander in chief picked North Carolina to win it all. Joining UNC in the president's final is the Big East Tournament Champion and No 1 overall Louisville. His final four is rounded out by Pitt and Memphis
The president's bracket doesn't include any Cinderella runs but he did pick several notable upsets. In the West Obama went with the No. 10 seed Maryland to upset the 7th seeded Golden Bears of California. He also went with the No 11 seed Temple over No 6 ASU in the South Region. Perhaps his most notable upset came in the East Regional in Philadelphia with No. 11 VCU over No. 6 UCLA.
"VCU, I think, has been playing strong, and I hate to say this, because my brother-in-law is in the Pac-10 right now, but the Pac-10 has been looking pretty weak this year," Obama told ESPN.
His Elite Eight includes only one team seeded below No. 2, Syracuse in the South, and he doesn't pick a team seeded below No. 5 to advance into the Sweet 16.
I believe this is the first time a president has ever public announced his tourney picks. This leads me to the question: Is he spending enough time on creating new jobs for hard working Americans such as myself? I love the fact that he is an avid basketball fan but I would love it even more if he could end this recession quickly and get me back in a job.
Hopefully all this attention VCU is receiving wont back fire on the Rams.
Hip Hop mega-star Lil' Wayne took some time off from his Spring Break activities in Panama Beach to talk basketball with MTV News. The multiplatinum rapper and ESPN sport's blogger gives his take on the upcoming tournament, sleepers and picks UNC to go the distance.
Philly or Bust 03/16/2009 @Marc's Living Room, RVA
The Rams are headed to Philadelphia as the 11th seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament to face the 6th seeded Bruins of UCLA on Thursday, March 19, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA. The game is set to tip at 9:50pm.
Thursday's match up against VCU marks the first meeting between both schools.
UCLA (25-8, 13-5) is led by guard Darren Collison (14.5 ppg, 4.9 apg) and guard/forward Josh Shipp (14.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg). The two seniors have lead the Bruins to the Final Four in each of the last 3 seasons.
This marks the 43rd NCAA Tournament berth for UCLA and the Bruin's fifth-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have compiled a 98-35 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament with 11 National Championships.
The Rams will be returning to the Big Dance for the 9th time in school history. Most recently in 2007 when the Rams met Duke in the first round in Buffalo, N.Y.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the results...
The winner of Thursday's contest will play the winner of No. 3 Villanova vs. No. 14 American on Saturday, March 21. That game will be played at either 1:05 pm ET or 3:35 pm at the Wachovia Center in Phila.
