New Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart has completed his coaching staff by hiring Mike Rhoades, Bill Courtney and Kyle Getter.Rhoades has been the head coach at Randolph-Macon for the past 10 seasons, compiling a 197-76 record. Courtney served as an assistant the past three seasons at Virginia under Dave Leitao. He also has served as an assistant at Providence, George Mason, Bowling Green and American.

Joey Rodriguez, a sophomore guard and two-year starter for Virginia Commonwealth University, has decided to transfer. Rodriguez’s father, Joe, said his son wants to get closer to his close-knit family in Oviedo, Fla., now that former VCU coach Anthony Grant has become Alabama’s new coach.

Joey Rodriguez, a two-year starter at guard for Virginia Commonwealth University, has decided to transfer. Rodriguez’s father, Joe, said his son wants to get closer to their home in Oviedo, Fla., now that former VCU coach Anthony Grant has become Alabama’s new coach.

Quanitra Hollingsworth believed she was bound for home in Chesapeake when she steered her automobile onto I-64 eastbound shortly after 3 p.m. yesterday. In fact, her destination was Minneapolis.

Virginia Commonwealth University post player Quanitra Hollingsworth was chosen by the Minnesota Lynx in first round of this afternoon’s WNBA draft. Hollingsworth, a 6-5 senior from Chesapeake, was the ninth player selected and the second player taken by the Lynx in the first round. Minnesota took Connecticut point guard Renee Montgomery with the fourth overall pick.

Virginia Commonwealth University women’s basketball coach Beth Cunningham believes Quanitra Hollingsworth, the Rams’ all-CAA post player, has what it takes to compete with the big girls. Moreover, she believes the big girls share that opinion.

Mike Schlegel, the rugged 6-8 center on Virginia Commonwealth University basketball teams that made three consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament 1983-85, recently died at 45. Mr. Schlegel was diagnosed with cancer in 2007. Mr. Schlegel scored 1,173 points during four seasons as a Rams starter. “What a special person,“ Minnesota coach Tubby Smith, the former VCU assistant who recruited Mr. Schlegel, said last night. “He was such a consistent, level-headed guy. He meant a lot to the basketball program at VCU, and I know this is a big loss for the VCU community.“

Populists and others denounce bonuses as indicators of corporate greed. Although the bonuses paid to various employees at the Virginia Department of Transportation do not approach the bonuses awarded on Wall Street or by firms receiving federal bailouts, they still create an image dilemma for the agency and for the state. For years Virginians have heard—correctly, we believe—that the state lacks sufficient transportation funding. Indeed, VDOT has announced plans to close popular rest stops to save cash. Bonuses allow critics to press their argument that chronic inefficiencies contribute to the transportation mess.

Virginia Commonwealth’s new basketball coach, Shaka Smart, spent time with Times-Dispatch writer Tim Pearrell after his introductory press conference Thursday addressing several topics. As he embarks on his first head coaching job, here are some of his thoughts: What is your vision for VCU? Off the court, my plan is to continue along the standard that Coach [Anthony] Grant has set in the terms of the way our guys carry themselves, perform academically and represent Virginia Commonwealth University. I really want our team to be a very strong part of the overall community. I want us to be involved at the hospital in any ways that we can be. I always feel that’s a tremendous opportunity for players to gain perspective and for players to do something for someone who is maybe less fortunate than them. It’s a great two-way street because you gain something and you give something.

Shaka Smart understands there’s a difference between spending your life preparing for something and then doing it. So when he picked up the phone in his office at the University of Florida last Friday and heard Virginia Commonwealth University Athletic Director Norwood Teague ask if he was interested in becoming the Rams’ new basketball coach, Smart was as sure as he could be.

Shaka Smart is an every-day kind of guy. When he was a student at Kenyon College, he went to class. Every day. He studied. Every day. He went to Kenyon to challenge himself athletically and academically. Every day. When he left Kenyon, one of the most prestigious liberal arts colleges in the country, he was a magna cum laude graduate in history and had been a four-year starter on the basketball team.

Expectations greet Shaka Smart as he takes over as Virginia Commonwealth University’s new basketball coach. His predecessors, Anthony Grant and Jeff Capel, won four Colonial Athletic Association regular-season titles in seven years and took the Rams to three NCAA tournaments and two National Invitation Tournaments. Smart will be introduced as VCU’s 10th coach today at an 11 a.m. press conference at the Siegel Center that is open to the public. Contract details haven’t been finalized, but Rams Athletic Director Norwood Teague said the five-year deal will pay Smart about $325,000 annually plus incentives.

He’s Smart, young and considered a fast riser in the world of college basketball assistant coaches. Soon, Shaka Smart will get the chance to prove the prediction of those who know and have worked with him—that he will become a successful head coach.

Virginia Commonwealth University is set to hire Florida assistant coach Shaka Smart as its new basketball coach, said two sources close to the situation. Smart, 32, succeeds Anthony Grant, who left to become Alabama’s coach. A press conference to introduce Smart is expected Thursday. Smart was an assistant this past season at Florida, a role Grant also held before taking the reins at VCU.

The interview process is almost finished. When it is - probably sometime today - Virginia Commonwealth Athletic Director Norwood Teague will try to nail down his choice to become the Rams’ new basketball coach. Teague interviewed Texas assistant coach Russell Springmann and Florida assistant coach Shaka Smart on Saturday. He talked to Navy head coach Billy Lange yesterday after receiving permission from Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk.