March Madness has now become the one month of the year where college basketball fans can rejoice and watch their favourite teams compete for the title of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champions. It’s become a platform that every aspiring college basketball team hopes to attain by the end of their season, and has been known to bring attention to some of the brightest coaching minds in the game. But this year, the spotlight is shining bright on Dave Smart, Carleton Ravens men’s basketball head coach.
Despite being with the Ravens since 1999, Smart has shown no signs of losing his winning touch, as his team was able to win their seventh straight national championship this season and 13th championship since 2003. But what many people didn’t realize was that he came awfully close to coaching his last game as a Raven. In an article in the New York Times, Dave Smart was quoted as saying he had been given three head coaching offers from NCAA basketball programs. At one point, he said he had decided to accept one of the offers, only to later decline the job opportunity an hour later.
Despite his numerous accolades, many have come to question whether Smart’s success at Carleton would be able to translate over to the NCAA. Not only would Smart be switching to a league filled with higher competition and quality of players, he would also be agreeing to a position that comes with more stress and less job security.
NCAA coaches are judged solely based on one category: wins. In years past, coaches were judged based on personal factors such as team fit, player chemistry, and rapport with management and media. While many of these elements are still seen in today’s game, they all become irrelevant when they see the win/loss record. However, Smart has proven repeatedly that he is capable of bringing out the best in his players when the game is at its largest stage. This is an important trait to consider when every NCAA team is trying to make those end-of-the-season streak of wins in order to qualify for their conference tournament, and ultimately the national tournament’s Round of 64.
When it comes to money, the NCAA greatly dominates the economic landscape, and shows that it pays well to be a good college basketball coach. In 2012, coaches that were able to lead their teams to a berth in the annual NCAA tournament reportedly earned a median salary of $1.4 million (US). The average salary for division II and III coaches for that same season averaged around $76,640 (US). According to a list on Carleton University website, Smart is currently the highest paid coach in U SPORTS men’s basketball after earning $159,000 (CAN) in salary in 2015.
A chance to coach an NCAA team would be an ambitious venture for any coach to try and pursue, especially for a great coach like Smart. However, I believe doing so wouldn’t truly reflect the values that he has communicated to his players, and to the league, since his first season. While being interviewed, Smart said that the key reason why he made the choice to ultimately decline the offer was because he couldn’t bear the disappointment of telling his players that he would be abandoning them next season.
As arguably one of the greatest basketball coaches that Canada has ever seen, it makes little sense why Smart would want to sacrifice all that he has worked for and built while living in Ottawa for a chance to earn a payoff that comes with absolutely no guarantees. He’s a sure-ballot Canadian Basketball Hall of Famer and has not shown that he is unhappy in his current position. Whatever decision he makes in the future will be for his best interests—not because of the NCAA.
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