Shaka Smart
Shaka Smart was born in Madison, Wisconsin, United States on April 8th, 1977 and is the Basketball Coach. At the age of 47, Shaka Smart biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 47 years old, Shaka Smart physical status not available right now. We will update Shaka Smart's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
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 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.
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.
On January 19, 2013, Smart became the second youngest active coach to win 100 games, with a 90-63 victory over Duquesne.
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." 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.
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, 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.
On March 26, 2021, Marquette University hired Smart to replace Steve Wojciechowski 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. 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.