Shaka Smart

Coach of the Year

Marquette Coach Captures Henry Iba Award

In his second season as head coach at Marquette University, Shaka Smart led the Golden Eagles to their first Big East outright regularseason title and tournament championship. Playing an integral role in MU’s success, the university saw one of the most successful seasons in its century-plus basketball history, winning a programbest 29 games.

Before his career at MU, Smart was the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth (2009-15) and Texas (2015-21), leading both programs to eight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2011, Smart guided VCU from the First Four to the Final Four. He has now led nine teams to the NCAA tournament. Smart has received much- deserved recognition for his coaching this season, including being honored as the Big East coach of the year.

Smart defeated the league’s expectations heading into his second season – the Golden Eagles were picked to finish ninth in the 11-team Big East. Instead, the team became one of the best offenses in the nation. MU went 17-3 in the conference to set a Big East record and won the outright title for the very first time. The Golden Eagles also beat every team in the conference for the first time since joining the league in 2005. To cap off a historic season, Smart is honored with the 2023 Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award.