VCU's stunning run to the 2011 Final Four has made 33-year-old head coach Shaka Smart a major commodity on the coaching market. This is nothing new to VCU, who has already lost young hotshot coaches Jeff Capel and Anthony Grant to power-conference programs this decade. However, the school seems determined to prevent that from happening this time.
Athletic director Norwood Teague said the school has "every plans" of keeping Smart and will be "proactive" in doing so. Via Robert Klemko of USA Today.
"We're gonna' keep him," Teague said. "We just have to be proactive about it."
Smart makes a base salary of $350,000 this season, with a $500,000 bonus for VCU's NCAA Tournament run. But he could earn up to a $2 million per year base salary at a bigger school.
Teague said the school has already begun talking internally about how it can keep Smart, and will continue those conversations with Smart more vigorously once the season ends.