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Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's college basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University.

This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot. (August 2022)

Shaka Smart

Smart in 2021
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Marquette
Conference	Big East
Record	21–13 (.618)
Biographical details
Born	(1977-04-08) April 8, 1977 (age 45) Madison, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Kenyon College
Playing career
1995–1999	Kenyon
Position(s)	Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2001	California (PA) (assistant)
2003–2006	Akron (assistant)
2006–2008	Clemson (assistant)
2008–2009	Florida (assistant)
2009–2015	VCU
2015–2021	Texas
2021–present	Marquette
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2001–2003	Dayton (basketball ops.)
Head coaching record
Overall	293–155 (.654)
Tournaments	7–9 (NCAA Division I) 5–0 (NIT) 5–0 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four (2011) NIT (2019) CBI (2010) CAA tournament (2012) Atlantic 10 tournament (2015) Big 12 tournament (2021)

Early life and playing career

Smart grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin. In high school, Smart was a three-year starter for Oregon High School in his hometown. He was a second-team All-Badger Conference pick as a senior and by the end of his career was the all-time assists leader at Oregon High for a career (458), season (201) and single game (20).[1]

Smart attended Division III Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he remains the school's career assists leader (542) twenty years after his playing career ended. In 1999, as a senior, he was an All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection, named the NCAC Scholar Athlete of the Year, and among 20 students in the country selected for the USA Today All-USA Academic team.[2] On ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, he credited his personal relationship with then head coach Bill Brown as the reason for his decision to attend the school.

Coaching career

Assistant coach

Smart began his coaching career in 1999 as an assistant at California University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned a master's degree. Afterwards, he was hired as Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Dayton. He was then an assistant at the University of Akron for three years, Clemson University for two, and the University of Florida for one.

VCU

VCU hired Smart to be the head coach in the spring of 2009 after the program's previous coach, Anthony Grant, left to become the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. Smart's hire made him the 10th-youngest head coach in Division I. In his first season, he led the Rams to a 27–10 season and a CBI Championship after VCU swept Saint Louis in the championship best-of-three series.[3]

Smart's second season began with forward Larry Sanders declaring for the 2010 NBA draft after his junior season. Sanders' selection by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 15th pick made VCU the first school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to have a player selected in the first round of the NBA draft in consecutive years, as the Utah Jazz had selected guard Eric Maynor with the 20th pick in the 2009 NBA draft. The Rams under Smart went 23–11 in the 2010–2011 season. Smart led the Rams to their second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association Championship Game, where they lost to Old Dominion.

Despite not securing the automatic bid, VCU earned an at-large bid to the Southwest region of the 2011 NCAA tournament. The Rams were one of the last four teams invited, and were placed in the First Four against USC for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. VCU defeated USC and then upset the 6th-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and 3rd-seeded Purdue Boilermakers to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. VCU won 72–71 against Florida State University in overtime to earn the school's first spot in the Elite Eight and subsequently upset the top-seeded University of Kansas 71–61 for its first Final Four appearance. The Rams lost to Butler 70-62 in the semifinal game.

On April 4, 2011, Smart agreed to an 8-year contract extension with VCU, increasing his base pay from $350,000 to $1.2 million per year, prior to any performance bonuses.[4][5]

On January 19, 2013, Smart became the second youngest active coach to win 100 games, with a 90-63 victory over Duquesne.[6]

Texas

On April 2, 2015, Smart accepted an offer to become the new men's head basketball coach at Texas. In his first season at Texas, the Longhorns won 20 games and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, which the Houston Chronicle described as having "surpassed all realistic expectations."[7] That offseason, Smart received a contract extension which would keep him at Texas through the 2022–23 season.[8]

In May 2017, Smart received a commitment from Mohamed Bamba, the second ranked overall player in the 2017 recruiting class, to play at Texas.[9][10] The following recruiting class was ranked eighth in the country after Smart received commitment letters from several highly ranked high school recruits.[11] Smart led Texas to an NIT championship in 2019 after losing in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament the previous season to Nevada.[12]

In six seasons of coaching Texas, Smart did not win an NCAA Tournament game with the Longhorns.[13] Smart was considered on the "hot seat" at Texas according to the San Antonio Express-News, with public speculation about how much longer he could remain; in 2021 he had just two years remaining on his contract with a relatively low buyout clause.[14] He did, however, win the 2021 Big 12 tournament and led Texas to a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament, but a shocking first-round loss to 14th-seeded Abilene Christian fired up speculation about his job status once again.

Marquette

On March 26, 2021, Marquette University hired Smart to replace Steve Wojciechowski as the Golden Eagles' head coach.[15] Just three games into his tenure on November 15, 2021, Smart and the Golden Eagles upset No. 10 Illinois. Smart and Marquette lost in the championship game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic to No. 16 St. Bonaventure University. On January 4, 2022, Smart led Marquette to their biggest margin of victory against a ranked opponent, beating the No. 16 Providence Friars 88-56 a 32 point margin of victory.[16] On January 19, 2022, Smart led the Golden Eagles to a 57-54 victory over Villanova. This upset ended the Wildcats' 29-game winning streak at Finneran Pavilion, having last lost there against Furman on November 27, 2018.[17] Smart went on to lead Marquette to a berth in the 2022 NCAA tournament as a 9-seed, where, in its opening game, the team lost to the University of North Carolina.[18]

Style of play

Smart's teams at VCU played an upbeat style of basketball known as "havoc." Smart described his "havoc" defensive philosophy during his introductory press conference as, "We are going to wreak havoc on our opponent's psyche and their plan of attack." On the court, the "havoc" defensive mindset is visible through the heavy use of the full court press and pressing after made baskets to disrupt opponents' timing of offensive sets. The Rams consistently maintained one of the most efficient and disruptive defenses in the nation, ranking 1st nationally in both turnovers and steals forced per possession from 2011-2014.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Smart's given name was bestowed in honor of the famous Zulu monarch and military strategist.[19] He graduated magna cum laude from Kenyon College with a degree in history, researching and writing on issues related to race and the Great Migration.[20] Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master's degree in social science at California University of Pennsylvania. He developed a love for quotations at Kenyon. Smart began writing down quotes into a digital document that is now over 110 pages long. He also likes nature documentaries featuring big cats.[21]

Smart has been married since May 20, 2006, to Maya Smart, a professional writer and alumna of Harvard University and Northwestern University.[1][22][23] Their daughter was born in 2011.[1][24]

Smart has four half-siblings from his estranged father Winston Smart: Sekou Lumumba Smart,^{[citation needed]}, Ifoma Oginga Smart, Anika Aduesa Smart, and Nkosi Mandela Smart. Smart's half-brother, J.M. Tyree, is a writer and professor.[25]

Smart campaigned for President Barack Obama in Florida in 2008 and Virginia in 2012.[26]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
VCU Rams (Colonial Athletic Association) (2009–2012)
2009–10	VCU	27–9	11–7	T–5th	CBI champion
2010–11	VCU	28–12	12–6	4th	NCAA Division I Final Four
2011–12	VCU	29–7	15–3	2nd	NCAA Division I Round of 32
VCU Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2012–2015)
2012–13	VCU	27–9	12–4	2nd	NCAA Division I Round of 32
2013–14	VCU	26–9	12–4	2nd	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2014–15	VCU	26–10	12–6	T–4th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
VCU:		163–56 (.744)	74–30 (.712)
Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Conference) (2015–2021)
2015–16	Texas	20–13	11–7	4th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2016–17	Texas	11–22	4–14	10th
2017–18	Texas	19–15	8–10	T–6th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2018–19	Texas	21–16	8–10	6th	NIT champion
2019–20	Texas	19–12	9–9	T–3rd	Postseason cancelled due to COVID-19
2020–21	Texas	19–8	11–6	3rd	NCAA Division I Round of 64
Texas:		109–86 (.559)	51–56 (.477)
Marquette Golden Eagles (Big East Conference) (2021–present)
2021–22	Marquette	19–13	11–8	T–5th	NCAA Division I Round of 64
2022–23	Marquette	2-0
Marquette:		21–13 (.618)	11–8 (.579)
Total:		293–155 (.654)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

See also

• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach

References

External links

• Marquette profile

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