We get it: Shaka Smart didn’t want to come to Illinois to be the head basketball coach once upon a time for one reason or the next. That’s fine. He kept coaching at VCU, and had a successful run before taking the head coaching job at Texas this past offseason.
Though the Champaign Room has pointed out some interesting words Shaka Smart’s mother, Monica King, had to say about Illinois (via ESPN):
Champaign-Urbana, home to the University of Illinois: A place in “southern Illinois with no diversity”? Sure, everything south of I-80 might seem like southern Illinois to someone who doesn’t really know what they’re talking about, but “no diversity”? C’mon now, Monica.
Sure, there’s plenty of room for improvement on that front, but calling C-U a place that has “no diversity” is just plain misinformed.
Top photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images.
