Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of ...

Early life and playing career

Smart grew up in

Oregon, Wisconsin Oregon is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin. As of the census of 2020, the population was 11,179. Oregon is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is located mostly within the Town of Oregon. History Oregon was settle ...

. 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). Smart attended Division III

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is s ...

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 The North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference composed of colleges located in Ohio and Indiana. When founded in 1984, the league was a pioneer in gender equality, offering competition in a then-unpreced ...

(NCAC) selection, named the NCAC Scholar Athlete of the Year, and among 20 students in the country selected for the ''

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'' All-USA Academic team. On

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'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 Pennsylvania Western University, California (commonly known as PennWest California) is a public university campus in California, Pennsylvania and one of three campuses of Pennsylvania Western University, part of the Pennsylvania State System o ...

, 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 The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

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 The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The program plays in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In the conference it trails only long-time basketball powerhouse Ke ...

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. Smart's second season began with forward Larry Sanders declaring for the

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after his junior season. Sanders' selection by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 196 ...

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 The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I whose full members are located in East Coast ...

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 USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. VCU defeated USC and then upset the 6th-seeded

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National ...

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 Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

in overtime to earn the school's first spot in the

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and subsequently upset the top-seeded

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

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

Texas

On April 2, 2015, Smart accepted an offer to become the new men's head basketball coach at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. 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 The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' described as having "surpassed all realistic expectations." That offseason, Smart received a contract extension which would keep him at Texas through the 2022–23 season. In May 2017, Smart received a commitment from Mohamed Bamba, the second ranked overall player in the 2017 recruiting class, to play at Texas. The following recruiting class was ranked eighth in the country after Smart received commitment letters from several highly ranked high school recruits. Smart led Texas to an NIT championship in 2019 after losing in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament the previous season to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. In six seasons of coaching Texas, Smart did not win an NCAA Tournament game with the Longhorns. Smart was considered on the "hot seat" at Texas according to the ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'', 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. 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,

hired Smart to replace

Steve Wojciechowski Steven Michael Wojciechowski (born August 11, 1976), also known as Wojo, is an American basketball coach and former player who was the head coach at Marquette University for seven seasons. He previously played and coached under head coach Mike K ...

as the Golden Eagles' head coach. Just three games into his tenure on November 15, 2021, Smart and the Golden Eagles upset No. 10

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. 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. 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. 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 The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC S ...

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.

Personal life

Smart's given name was bestowed in honor of the famous Zulu monarch and military strategist. He graduated magna cum laude from

with a degree in history, researching and writing on issues related to race and the Great Migration. Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master's degree in social science at

. 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. Smart has been married since May 20, 2006, to Maya Smart, a professional writer and alumna of Harvard University and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. Their daughter was born in 2011. Smart has four half-siblings from his estranged father Winston Smart: Sekou Lumumba Smart,, Ifoma Oginga Smart, Anika Aduesa Smart, and Nkosi Mandela Smart. Smart's half-brother, J.M. Tyree, is a writer and professor. Smart campaigned for President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

in Florida in 2008 and Virginia in 2012.

Head coaching record

References

External links