Shaka smart coaching career

Shaka Smart was hired at Texas in 2015 as one of the up and coming coaches in college basketball.

The then-37-year-old landed the Longhorns job with expectations to lead Texas back to prominence after showing he could architect a March Madness run from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011 with VCU.

However, despite making the NCAA Tournament in three of five years and winning a Big 12 Tournament title, Smart fell short of that leading to his departure in 2021 for Marquette.

REQUIRED READING:Shaka Smart gets emotional after Marquette basketball advances to Sweet 16 in March Madness

Smart, now 46, is set for his second return to the Longhorn State since he left in 2021 for Milwaukee as his now 2 seed Golden Eagles (27-9, 14-6 in Big East play) take on 11 seed NC State in the Sweet 16 at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Friday, March 29 at 6:09 p.m.

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