AUSTIN, Texas — Texas officials did not want to fire men's basketball coach Shaka Smart. But it was clear this was not working.
Smart is making a preemptive move by taking the Marquette job and leaving Texas after six seasons full of hope and NBA-caliber recruits but ultimately no progress made toward national competitiveness.
CBS Sports reported that Smart would be hired by Marquette with others saying a deal was imminent. Multiple UT officials either could not be reached or had no comment to the American-Statesman.
Smart had two years remaining on his contract worth an estimated $7.1 million in guaranteed money.
He was 109-86 in six seasons and 51-56 in Big 12 play. During those six years, the Longhorns never came close to winning a Big 12 championship and couldn’t finish any higher than third. He was also 20-40 against ranked opponents.
Perhaps most damaging was Smart’s lack of postseason success. Texas made only three NCAA Tournaments over the last six seasons. All three ended in one-and-done fashion, including last Saturday’s loss to 14th-seeded Abilene Christian.
Texas, the most financially lucrative athletic program in America, has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2014.
It wasn’t for a lack of talent. Texas had numerous top-25 recruiting classes, and Smart churned out three NBA lottery picks. This year’s team features two big men likely to get snapped up in the next NBA draft.
The only major highlights during Smart’s run was the 2019 NIT title and this season’s Big 12 tournament championship.
This year’s team was widely considered Smart’s best. Texas won the Maui Invitational and swept Kansas during the regular season for the first time in school history. Texas was seeded third in the East Region of the NCAAs, the program’s highest seeding since 2008.
But the Horns were eliminated with an embarrassing 53-52 loss after turning the ball over a season-high 23 times. And just last week, Texas was ranked ninth in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Two players have already jumped into the NCAA transfer portal and a third, sophomore Kai Jones, has declared for the NBA draft.
