[Husker] Shaka Smart turns down Illinois

[Steve Cornelius]

I agree. I think the Illinois position needs to be filled before serious
candidates turn their attention to Nebraska. I live in the western suburbs
of Chicago and Illinois fans are shocked they were turned down by Smart.
Supposedly, he had concerns about recruiting Chicago which IS a difficult
area to recruit. A number of pundits I've heard say that the Illinois job
is one of the top 20 in the nation, but I'm not so certain. Their
facilities are lacking and Nebraska's facilities, especially when the new
arena is completed, are much better than Illinois.

--
Steve Cornelius




On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 1:44 PM, Mike Jaixen <mikejaixen at yahoo.com> wrote:

> The World-Herald is reporting that Wichita State's Gregg Marshall turned
> down a $2 million offer from Nebraska.
>
> http://www.omaha.com/article/20120321/NEWS01/303229996
>
> Tom Osborne denied that anybody has been offered the job, though Lee
> Barfknecht explains that away as semantics.  If you remember the whole
> Steve Pederson coaching fiasco, what constitutes a job offer is somewhat
> nebulous.  So these offers are nuanced in such a way that the coaching
> candidate knows what he's being offered and what he's agreeing to...yet the
> athletic director (Pederson or Tom Osborne) can deny that anybody has been
> offered at this point.
>
> While I'd like to think that Shaka Smart is a candidate at Nebraska, I
> think that's highly unlikely.  I've heard that Illinois has offered
> anywhere from $2.5 to $3 million a year to Smart.  Would Nebraska pay a
> basketball coach more than what Bo Pelini makes?  Highly unlikely.  So I
> don't see Smart coming to Lincoln.  I'd love to be wrong, of course.
>
> And with uncertainty about what Smart was going to do, I don't see
> Marshall or John Groce being at all interested in any overtures from
> Nebraska.  Not with the Illini job still open.  Marshall is also apparently
> waiting for South Carolina to contact him as well.
>
> Once those other jobs clear up, I think that Tom Osborne probably stands a
> better job with Marshall or Groce.  The money that Osborne is apparently
> offering should be a sign that Nebraska is committed to breaking out of
> it's rut.
>
> Mike Jaixen
> http://huskermike.blogspot.com
> http://www.cornnation.com
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Steve Cornelius <sscornelius at gmail.com>
> *To:* Husker List <husker at tssi.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 21, 2012 1:28 PM
> *Subject:* [Husker] Shaka Smart turns down Illinois
>
> Shaka Smart has reportedly turned down the University of Illinois' offer to
> be their next basketball coach and will stay at VCU. Smart was Illinois'
> number one candidate and he has also been on Nebraska's wish list too -- or
> at least among fans. The Illinois position is considered the top available
> coaching position, but the athletic director is under pressure to hire a
> minority candidate.
>
> http://goo.gl/K4pvG
>
> --
> Steve Cornelius
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