ESPN AND Infiniti announced today that VCU Coach Shaka Smart is one of the four coaches to make it to the finals of this year’s Coaches Charity Challenge. Coach Smart lead the East Region from wire to wire, competing against and defeating big time basketball names as Bob Huggins of West Virginia, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. He also held off the coaches of conference rivals Temple, Xavier and St. Joseph’s. The “final Four” coaches include: Frank Haith of Missouri, Johnny Dawkins of Stanford and last-year’s winner Thad Matta of Ohio State.

Initially, 48 coaches from around the country were selected to participate, and each coach selected a non-profit organization to align with. Coach Smart chose FRIENDS Association for Children – a local agency that has assisted children and families in Richmond for over 140 years.

From hoopskills.com

The finals will run from March 27th through March 10th, and conclude at 11:59am EST.

We certainly appreciate all of the support that this has received, but now the real work begins. It will take all of Richmond and Central Virginia to get behind this effort and vote for Shaka Smart. A vote for Coach Smart is a vote to help Richmond’s children. Your votes are needed now more than ever!