Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's college basketball coach and former college basketball player. He is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University.
As a coach, Smart is best known for leading Virginia Commonwealth University to its first and only Final Four appearance in school history in the 2011 NCAA tournament.
Early life, education, and playing career
Smart was born April 8, 1977, in Madison, Wisconsin to Winston Smart and Monica King. Smart's father was not supportive of Smart and left the family in 1994. He grew up in Fitchburg and attended Oregon High School in Oregon, Wisconsin. Smart, who is biracial, was one of "10 or so" students of color at Oregon High and experienced racism while attending the school. This led Smart to lead a student group which held multicultural events and seminars on homophobia and racism. He has said these experiences helped him develop his competitive drive.
While in high school, Smart played for the Oregon Panthers basketball team. He was a three-year starter as a point guard for the Panthers and set school records for assists in a game (20), season (291), and career (458). His senior season he was named to the All-Badger Conference second team.
After graduating from Oregon High, Smart reportedly turned down admission to Harvard University to attend Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history, focusing on issues of race and the Great Migration. While attending Kenyon, Smart played for the Kenyon Lords basketball team, where he was a four-year starter for the Lords and set school records for assists in a season (184) and career (542). As a senior, Smart was named to the All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) team and NCAC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Smart was also named to the 1999 USA Today All-USA Academic Team.
After graduating from Kenyon, Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master's degree in social science from California University of Pennsylvania.
Coaching career
Assistant coach
Smart's coaching career began in 1999 as an assistant coach at California University of Pennsylvania under Bill Brown, his former coach at Kenyon. He followed that with a position as the director of basketball operations at University of Dayton and assistant coaching positions at University of Akron, Clemson University, and the University of Florida.
VCU
In 2009, Smart was hired as the head coach of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) following Anthony Grant's departure to become the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. At the time of his hiring, he was one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Division I basketball. In his first season, he led the Rams to a 27–10 record and a CBI Championship after VCU swept Saint Louis in the championship best-of-three series.
Smart's second season began with star forward Larry Sanders declaring for the 2010 NBA draft. Without Sanders, the Rams went 23–11 and played in their second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championship game, losing to Old Dominion.
VCU was given an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA tournament. The decision was met with controversy given the Rams 3–5 record that February. They played in the First Four against University of Southern California (USC) for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. VCU defeated USC and upset Georgetown University and Purdue University to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. VCU beat Florida State University 72–71 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. Smart signed an eight-year, $1.2 million per year contract extension with VCU following the school's loss to Butler.
Smart became the second-youngest coach to win 100 games, with a 90–63 victory over Duquesne University in January 2013.
Texas
In 2015, Smart became the head coach of the University of Texas men's basketball team. In his first season at Texas, he led the Longhorns to a 20–13 record and received the sixth seed in 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.