Winning press conferences can be a cliche. Coaches can have less than stellar opening press conferences then kill it on the field or the court that following year. The inverse can happen too. A coach can come up there and give a great speech only to have his team fall short when the season rolls around. But truth be told hearing the new coach of the team you root for absolutely nail his press conference feels fucking good. Why? Because it also washes away all of the things you’ve dealt with in the last few years with the other coach. It’s time to start fresh. Shaka Smart is going to do that at Marquette, and it already sounds like he’s off to a great start.

Smart made so many great comments it’s hard to pinpoint where to start. The passion for the state of Wisconsin and the City of Milwaukee was a breath of fresh air for Marquette coaches. Rick Majerus was the last coach for Marquette that grew up in Wisconsin. But Majerus lived in Sheboygan Falls which is a far cry from Oregon, Wisconsin, much closer to Milwaukee. Smart also talked about frequent visits to the Cream City as a kid. Besides helping with local recruiting, it made an impact on me that a guy is coming here not only for the school but also for the city.

Another thing that I loved about Smart was his passion for how much Marquette loves basketball. That mattered to him. Part of me wonders if that was a regret of his going to Texas. Where no matter what Texas basketball did, the football team always reign supreme. Hell, Michigan is more of a basketball school than a football school at this point, yet, no Michigan fan would probably concede that. Smart was never going to be the top dog. Smart gets that opportunity now. Just like he did at VCU. Smart knows Marquette fans, alumni care about basketball and only basketball. That is a night and day shift from Texas.

It appears most of Marquette’s team will stay with Smart at this point. Now, the transfer portal is always humming, so, what is up today, could be down tomorrow. Jonas Aidoo has been the only departure at the moment, but I hope that Smart can discuss bringing Aidoo back. We’ll see. If that’s the only loss, Marquette will be in a good spot to start the Smart era in mid-November.

Here’s to Shaka and the Golden Eagles.

Charlie.