Smart’s comments on CAA/ACC not new
Tim Pearrell
Jan 31, 2012
VCU coach Shaka Smart generated a CAA/ACC stir Monday by saying “the reality is if you go by the numbers, if you go by postseason, if you go by even guys going to the NBA, the best programs in the state are in the CAA. It’s really not even close.”
Where was everybody when my main man Paul Woody wrote the same thing, with pretty much the same comment from Smart, in a column in The Times-Dispatch in November?
Paul, of course, didn’t ask the question on a conference call, so it didn’t get the legs it got from the CAA and ACC beat writers.
Here’s Paul’s column from Nov. 11, with the same stance from Smart. The headline was “In reality, Tech, U.Va. looking up at VCU, UR”
By virtue of their membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech ostensibly enjoy the “marquee” status among college basketball teams in the state.
The results tell a different story.
The Cavaliers and Hokies last were in the NCAA tournament in 2007.
In the meantime, Virginia Commonwealth University reached the Final Four last season. The University of Richmond made its second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament in 2011 and reached the Sweet 16.
VCU and Richmond face the question bred of success: What do they do for an encore?
Considering the seniors both teams lost, a successful encore would be returning to the NCAA tournament.
Virginia and Virginia Tech face a more daunting question: What can they do reach the level of VCU and Richmond? How can the Cavaliers and Hokies return to the promised land of the NCAA tournament?
The easy answer is “win.”
Doing so is more difficult.
Virginia’s young players, Joe Harris and KT Harrell, must show maturity and consistency. Veteran players Mike Scott, Assane Sene and Sammy Zeglinski must produce under pressure.
Virginia Tech needs a bit of good fortune, especially regarding injuries. Two starters and a key reserve missed last season because of illness or injuries.
One, shooting guard Dorenzo Hudson, is back. J.T. Thompson missed 2010-11 with a knee injury. Misfortune has been Thompson and Tech’s constant companion. Thompson injured the other knee in preseason practice and is lost for the 2011-12 season.
VCU and Richmond’s NCAA success—both played in the Southwest Region, where Richmond lost to Kansas and VCU beat Kansas to advance to the Final Four—captivated the city, state and country.
Last year is over. VCU, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, and Richmond, an Atlantic 10 team, start anew, facing the familiar stereotypes.
They are mid-major teams. The ACC is a power conference.
“What you are talking about is perception,” said VCU coach Shaka Smart. “The reality is the game. We go out and play and (see) what happens. Perception is, ‘Who’s better? Who’s got a better program?’ That’s not up to me to decide.”
However, Smart thinks the decision is easy, if facts are considered.
“If you look at what programs have been most successful over the past five, 10 years, there’s no question,” he said. “There’s not even a debate. VCU, Old Dominion, George Mason and Richmond, those programs have done more. They just have. That’s a testament to those players and coaches.”
Old Dominion has made consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament, and George Mason was in the Final Four in 2006, offering more proof the power centers of basketball in Virginia have shifted from Blacksburg and Charlottesville to Richmond and points north and east.
“I don’t know that I would say that,” said Richmond coach Chris Mooney. “It’s more that there’s so much more parity in college basketball now.
“I compare it to when Notre Dame football was the only game on television. Now, practically every football team is on TV. It’s the same with college basketball. You can see Richmond and VCU, and Richmond and VCU have been good for a long time. And, success is cyclical.”
Mooney has a point. Even the most powerful programs—North Carolina, Michigan State, Arizona—have down years. Usually, the powerful return to form faster, although Mooney and Smart plan to retool their teams quickly.
Still, Smart knows how much the ACC brand means for Virginia and Virginia Tech.
“They’re in probably the most prestigious league in the country, the league that gets the most media coverage in the country,” said Smart, who worked as an assistant at Clemson, another ACC school. “It’s a powerful thing. In recruiting, it’s very, very powerful.
“We just went to the Final Four, but they have those three letters (ACC) on their shirts. We don’t.”
However, VCU has a Final Four appearance on its resume, and Richmond reached the Sweet 16 last year.
Virginia and Virginia Tech have some catching up to do.
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