VCU's victory over USC last night probably means that VCU skipper Shaka Smart could be taking up an offer as a head coach in the bigger stage of college hoops.
It happened with Jeff Capel, who took over at VCU in 2002 and left four years later to become Oklahoma's head coach. It also happened for Anthony Grant, the Florida assistant VCU hired to replace Capel in 2006, then lost him to Alabama in 2009 after two NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons. Next up is Shaka Smart.
Now fans at North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and other schools with coaching vacancies will ratchet up their level of enthusiasm and start debating on message boards and radio shows whether the sharp-looking 33-year-old former Billy Donovan assistant whose teams press and run could be the solution to all their basketball problems. That's how this business works. You can win 22 games every year for five years and never really get noticed, or win one or two NCAA tournament games and have your pick of power-conference jobs.
I'm not saying it's right. I'm just saying it happens, and it's probably about to happen for Smart. His challenge will be remaining focused.
Don't expect VCU AD Norwood Teague to panic, though. While many athletic directors bristle at the mere suggestion that their coach would ever leave, Teague takes a more practical approach and understands there's a certain order to things. He knew when he hired Capel and Grant that if all went well, he would lose them in a few years, and he knew the same thing about Smart when he hired him, too. If VCU loses Smart, they'll just find the next guy the same way they found the last guy and the current guy.
Simply put, this is what they do at VCU, and they do it well.