Fast Five: Shaka Smart's Program Values

The University of Texas tops NCAA tourney teams in academic progress. Coach Shaka Smart's Longhorns are embracing his five core values. 

1. Appreciation. Coach Smart wants players to both recognize and show appreciation via acts of kindness. 
2. Enthusiasm. Much like Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success, Smart's values have enthusiasm as a foundational element. 
3. Competitiveness. If you watched the video above, you saw Coach Smart's competitiveness and modeling the "aggressive pursuit of greatness."
4. Accountability. Smart emphasizes three types of accountability - player to coach, individual, and player to player. I think the latter is the strongest type of accountability. 
5. Team-ship. Above all, we are responsible to the TEAM. 

We all need to establish our core values. This season, we focused on TEAMWORK, QUALITY, and ACCOUNTABILITY. There's always room to grow.