Marquette hires Shaka Smart as new men’s basketball head coach

The Marquette Golden Eagles made a splashy hire Friday, hiring Shaka Smart as their new men’s basketball head coach.

The news was reported by Stadium college basketball insider Jeff Goodman.

Smart, who was born in Madison, Wis., and attended Oregon High School, owns a 414-272 career record over 12 seasons as head coach, split between Virginia Commonwealth (2009-15) and Texas (2015-21).

Smart surged onto the college basketball scene during his tenure at VCU, as he led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament five times. VCU advanced to the 2011 Final Four and made two Sweet 16 appearances (’12, ’13) before Smart was hired at Texas.

The Longhorns went 109-86 over Smart’s six-year tenure, advancing to the big dance three times. In 2020-21, Texas logged a 19-8 record and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament but were upset by 14-seed Abilene Christian in the first round.

Marquette relieved Steve Wojciechowski of his duties as head coach last week. Wojciechowski coached the Golden Eagles for seven seasons and logged a 128-95 record as well as a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

Smart will become the first Black head coach in Marquette program history.