Shaka Smart back home, eager to revitalize Marquette hoops
3 years, 9 months ago

Shaka Smart back home, eager to revitalize Marquette hoops

Associated Press  

MILWAUKEE — Shaka Smart acknowledges he’s happy to return to his home state but says that isn’t necessarily the reason he decided to leave Texas for Marquette. And he’s already been to the Final Four.” Marquette pursued Smart in 2014 — three years after that Final Four run — but he stayed at VCU. “I’m so grateful for all coach Smart did for Texas basketball, our university community and our athletics department,” Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said in a statement released over the weekend. Marquette went 13-14 this season and made two NCAA Tournament appearances in Wojciechowski’s seven-year tenure, though the Golden Eagles likely would have earned a bid last year if not for the pandemic. “You want to have seasons where you put something up in the rafters, whether it’s a Big East regular-season championship, a Big East Tournament championship,” Smart said.

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History of this topic

Marquette's Championship Quest: Can They Make Four Straight NCAA Tournament Appearances?
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Marquette's Championship Quest: Can They Make Four Straight NCAA Tournament Appearances?

Associated Press  

No. 18 Marquette aims for a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, with the team looking to replace departing players Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro. The Golden Eagles have a strong core of returning players, including Kam Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell, but they need to find replacements for Kolek and Ighodaro. The team opens with a home game against …

March Madness leads Marquette’s Shaka Smart, the former Longhorns coach, back to Texas again
9 months, 1 week ago

March Madness leads Marquette’s Shaka Smart, the former Longhorns coach, back to Texas again

Associated Press  

DALLAS — Marquette coach Shaka Smart can’t seem to escape his time in Texas when it comes to signature moments with the Golden Eagles in the NCAA Tournament. Smart is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since taking VCU from the First Four to the Final Four 13 years ago, and it’s been two years since he reached …

Marquette coach Shaka Smart confident that Tyler Kolek will play again at some point this season
10 months ago

Marquette coach Shaka Smart confident that Tyler Kolek will play again at some point this season

Associated Press  

MILWAUKEE — Marquette coach Shaka Smart is optimistic that Tyler Kolek’s oblique injury won’t knock the 2022-23 Big East player of the year out for the remainder of the season. Smart acknowledged Tuesday that “barring a miracle,” Kolek won’t play in the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles’ two regular-season games Wednesday against No. Smart said Tuesday there’s a “distinct possibility” that Kolek …

Marquette’s Shaka Smart voted men’s AP coach of the year
1 year, 9 months ago

Marquette’s Shaka Smart voted men’s AP coach of the year

Associated Press  

Shaka Smart has packed an entire career’s worth of experiences into 14 years as a college head coach. “I’m very grateful to win this award,” said Smart, the second Marquette coach to take it home after Hall of Famer Al McGuire in 1971, “but obviously it always comes back to the guys you have on your team. Our guys did …

Marquette coach Smart faces mentor Izzo in NCAA 2nd round
1 year, 9 months ago

Marquette coach Smart faces mentor Izzo in NCAA 2nd round

Associated Press  

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Watching Tom Izzo’s Michigan State team win the 2000 national title was a seminal moment for Shaka Smart, then a 22-year-old graduate assistant at Division II California University of Pennsylvania. “That cemented in my mind college basketball was where I wanted to be,” Smart said Saturday, a day before his second-seeded Marquette team was to face Izzo …

March Madness: Jones, Marquette roll over Vermont 78-61
1 year, 9 months ago

March Madness: Jones, Marquette roll over Vermont 78-61

Associated Press  

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kam Jones managed just a single point in the first half against Vermont. Jones scored 18 of his 19 points in one stretch of the second half as second-seeded Marquette pulled away from Vermont en route to a 78-61 rout in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. That’s what allowed us to break the …

Marquette will play for Big East title Saturday. The reason why starts with Shaka Smart
1 year, 10 months ago

Marquette will play for Big East title Saturday. The reason why starts with Shaka Smart

New York Times  

NEW YORK — Forty-two minutes remained on the pregame countdown clock, and it was rowdy inside Madison Square Garden with more or less nobody around. “Clear the way!” Zach Wrightsil howled, an injured senior wearing a leg brace who nevertheless fanboy-ed every teammate sailing in for a dunk, up to and including Olivier-Maxence Prosper’s gnarly windmill. By the end of …

Efficient offense has No. 16 Marquette chasing league title
1 year, 11 months ago

Efficient offense has No. 16 Marquette chasing league title

Associated Press  

The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! “The purpose of that is, ‘Hey, that can be our team if we’re willing to do all the things that go into being a special team,’ “ Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “But to me, what’s more important is to have the drive inside of you …

How Shaka Smart turbocharged Marquette basketball’s offense
2 years ago

How Shaka Smart turbocharged Marquette basketball’s offense

New York Times  

“Havoc” will forever be synonymous with Shaka Smart’s name because of his run at VCU, but even in his Texas years when he mostly abandoned the press, he prided himself on defense. “I’ve always been probably a little bit more of a defensive-minded guy,” says Smart, now in his second year at Marquette. “It happens off the court.” Marquette’s coaches …

Marquette’s rout of Baylor proves Shaka Smart is taking hold of the program
2 years, 1 month ago

Marquette’s rout of Baylor proves Shaka Smart is taking hold of the program

New York Times  

MILWAUKEE — Early in a day that ended with two hours of straight basketball bacchanal, Marquette’s men’s hoops staff had a meeting. “It’s understanding they’re not going to be all the way where you want them to go, all the time,” Smart said late Tuesday, gripping a telltale rolled-up box score in a Fiserv Forum hallway, “but we’ve gotta demand …

Shaka Smart leaves Texas to take over Marquette’s program
3 years, 9 months ago

Shaka Smart leaves Texas to take over Marquette’s program

Associated Press  

MILWAUKEE — After a frustrating six-year stint at Texas in which he never quite lived up to lofty expectations, Shaka Smart is returning to his home state and starting over at Marquette. The move came six days after Smart’s Texas team was upset 53-52 by Abilene Christian in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Smart went 109-86 with no …

Marquette fires coach Steve Wojciechowski after 7 seasons
3 years, 9 months ago

Marquette fires coach Steve Wojciechowski after 7 seasons

Associated Press  

MILWAUKEE — Marquette’s first losing season since Steve Wojciechowski’s debut year resulted in the coach’s exit. “That’s when the decision was made that it’s probably the right time to go in a new direction.” The Golden Eagles earned two NCAA Tournament appearances in Wojciechowski’s seven seasons. Marquette likely would have earned an NCAA bid in 2020 if the pandemic hadn’t …

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