Texas Longhorns basketball coach Shaka Smart is heading to Marquette to take over the head coaching position, Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported.
It’s unclear if Texas encouraged Smart to head to Marquette. Smart’s buyout would have been $7 million at the end of this season, ESPN reported.
Texas coach Shaka Smart is headed to Marquette, sources told @stadium.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 26, 2021
The move comes after Smart and the Longhorns were bumped from the NCAA tournament by ACU in the first round. Smart led the team to win the Big 12 Championship this year, but has never won the NCAA tournament in his six seasons as head coach. (RELATED: Big March Madness Upset Worth $120 Million, Abilene Christian University Head Coach Says)
Before his six depressing seasons at UT, Smart coached VCU to five NCAA tournament appearances, even breaking the final four in 2011.
Honestly, I was ready to say goodbye to Smart after he failed to turn Mo Bamba’s talent into a plus for the team. Bamba was drafted in the first round of the 2018 draft.
Smart has just been an all-around disappointment for Texas, but of course basketball has never been our top priority. After this past season, maybe we should take it seriously because Texas does recruit the talent needed to be a powerhouse basketball team.
Hopefully we get a top-notch coach moving forward that can turn talent into real results.