Following the tough exit from the NCAA Tournament, the Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart got closer to a prestigious honor. Smart was named a finalist for the 2023 Naismith College Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Eagles through an incredible season. The Golden Eagles reached their highest ranking in program history and also claimed an outright Big East Conference championship.
Coach Shaka Smart Proves His Capabilities Once Again
Smart began his coaching career at California (PA) as an assistant on the staff. The Madison, Wisconsin native joined the staff in 1999 after completing his playing career at Kenyon College under his former coach, Bill Brown. Between 2003-2009, Smart hopped between the Akron, Clemson, and Florida basketball programs as an assistant. Smart spent two years away from coaching as well when he took a job as the director of basketball operations at the University of Dayton.
In 2009, Smart landed the head coaching job at Virginia Commonwealth University and led the school to a College Basketball Invitational win in his first year. The following year, Smart led VCU to their first NCAA Final Four appearance in program history. In 2015, Smart became the head coach at the University of Texas where he again had success. Texas won the 2019 NIT and also won the 2021 Big 12 Conference Tournament under the guidance of Shaka Smart.
After earning a three seed and losing the Abilene Christian University in the first round, Smart left Texas. The Marquette Golden Eagles quickly contacted Smart to be their head coach after firing Steve Wojciechowski for his poor performance. In two years as the Golden Eagles head coach, Shaka Smart has made the NCAA Tournament twice and surpassed every expectation Marquette had this season. The Golden Eagles were chosen to finish towards the bottom of the Big East during the preseason polls.
Basketball Ncaa Men S Basketball Tournament Round 2
Instead, Smart led the Golden Eagles to a Big East Conference outright championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance as a two seed. Despite their second round loss to Michigan State, Smart led the Golden Eagles to a 29-7 record while accomplishing many feats that seemed unlikely for this group. Following the exceptional performance from the team this season, Smart won both the Henry Iba Award and Big East Coach of the Year honors in the same week.
The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 by the United States Basketball Writers Association. The award is given to one of five nominees to recognize them as the best college basketball coach each year. Now, after earning two coach of the year honors, Smart has a chance to finish the trifecta with the 2023 Naismith College Coach of the Year award approaching. Given his success this year at turning Marquette into one of the top teams in the nation, Shaka Smart could certainly earn his third award this year.
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