Shaka Smart becomes the third Big 12 head coach to test positive for Covid-19 during the season. He joins Scott Drew of Baylor and Jamie Dixon of TCU in testing positive once the basketball season got underway. With the positive test, Smart will miss this weekend’s game versus Kentucky as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Texas is having its best season under Smart while currently holding a top 5 ranking. They had high expectations coming into the year with Smart seemingly on the hot seat after producing mediocre results over the course of his time in Austin.
Shaka Smart is the latest high profile college coach to test positive for Covid pic.twitter.com/WUNNjZfyqb
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 25, 2021
The good news for Texas is Kentucky is down this year making this matchup much less difficult. Missing a coach is always difficult, especially in a Power-Five out of conference matchup on the road. This matchup presents something interesting though with the team they are playing, struggling, and unable to find a rhythm with their lineups. A game versus Kentucky this year has been fairly easy for most opponents, even without Smart out there is a decent chance Texas finds that to be the case.
