Shaka Smart Named After Zulu Chieftain

VCU has become the darling of the NCAA Tournament this year, developing into this year’s Butler (which incidentally could also be said about this year’s Butler). Their head coach is Shaka Smart who has emerged as a leading candidate for several bigger jobs after helping his team make its stunning run.

VCU’s Final Four run has led to several headlines involving play-on-words for Smart’s last name. Though his surname seems befitting for the genius it’s taken to lead such an improbable ride, it’s his first name that is most notable to me.

Yahoo! Sports’ The Dagger explains how Shaka got his first name. Jeff Eisenberg writes “Smart’s father, a native of Trinidad, named him after the influential Zulu chieftain Shaka, who united much of Southern Africa under his leadership in the early 1800s.”

Could Smart have had a more appropriate first name? The man who’s led VCU to the Final Four named after a man who united Southern Africa? It’s unique, and it fits. I love it.

Thanks to Sports by Brooks Live for passing it along.