Texas players, signees react to Shaka Smart hire

The Texas Longhorns found the replacement for Rick Barnes in seemingly hitting a home run by hiring now-former VCU Rams head coach Shaka Smart on Thursday evening.

After the news became official following a team meeting between Smart and the Rams players, several Texas players and one signee shared their opinions of the hire via Twitter.

Junior forward Connor Lammert opted for a pun:

Smart choice. Now let's get to work. #Hookem

— Connor Lammert (@ANDtwenty1) April 3, 2015

Meanwhile, 2015 guard signee Kerwin Roach took a more simple approach before giving a longer take to a reporter:

Nothing but good news pic.twitter.com/XHigo7ibL9

— K2 (@SumbdyFixDaNet) April 3, 2015

2015 UT commit Kerwin Roach (@SumbdyFixDaNet) tells me that "it's a great hire. Shaka smart runs the same offense and defense he played in.

— DevonTe Brooks (@DBrooksSBN) April 3, 2015

Guard Isaiah Taylor was a little bit peeved that he found out from media reports before thinking better of his tweet, taking it down, and then giving a more enthusiastic take on the situation:

Glad @coachsmartvcu is in Austin ! Welcome to your new home ! #Horns

— Isaiah Taylor (@Zay_Ctmd11) April 3, 2015

Assuming that Taylor returns to school after a turnover- and injury-plagued season, he'll be a key part of Smart's attack in the coach's inaugural season because Smart's "havoc" defense relies on a lot of on-ball pressure from the guards.

Guard Kendal Yancy also weighed in later:

Ayeeeee we got Shaka!!! Welcome to the Family #LonghornNation @coachsmartvcu

— Yancy™ (@yancy0_ctmd) April 3, 2015

Moving forward, the key player to watch will be Michigan guard Eric Davis, who doesn't tweet particularly awesome. There were rumors that Davis might seek a release from his National Letter of Intent after Rick Barnes was let go, so a phone call to the talented combo guard would be a smart early move by Smart since the Longhorns could benefit from Davis' long-distance shooting ability.

However, the initial news was positive:

#Texas signee Kerwin Roach (@SumbdyFixDaNet) tells me he has talked to fellow Signee Eric Davis tonight and both are 100% solid with Texas.

— Andrew King (@AndrewKingHorns) April 3, 2015

So hopefully the Horns will be able to keep Davis in the mix. Texas would have to release Davis from his NLI for him not to lose a season eligibility, but schools generally grant such requests in the event of coaching changes.