Smart leaves Texas to take over Marquette’s program
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.
Marquette officially announced Friday that it had hired Smart to replace Steve Wojciechowski, who was fired a week ago. 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.
“Throughout the search, one individual continued to rise to the top, and that was Shaka,” Marquette athletic director Bill Scholl said in a statement. “I am beyond excited for our current and future student-athletes who will have the great fortune of being mentored by Shaka. He is a great teacher of the game, while also being a great molder of young men.” pril 8, will be formally introduced Monday. Smart went 109-86 with no NCAA Tournament victories at Texas after a remarkably successful six-year run at VCU, where he went 163-56 and led the Rams to a Final Four appearance in 2011. Texas went 19-8 this season and won the Big 12 Tournament before its early NCAA exit.
This marks a bit of a homecoming for Smart, who went to high school at Oregon, Wisconsin, just outside Madison.
Emmert blames poor communication
SAN ANTONIO » Mark Emmert acknowledged the glaring failures to give the coaches and players in the women’s tournament the same attention the NCAA gave the men was a result of a lack of communication between the two basketball staffs along with focusing on trying to tip off both events safely during a pandemic.
The NCAA president said the oversights resulted in overlooking differences that led to inequities that has cast a dark, looming cloud over the women’s tournament.
“Clearly we should have had better communication between my teams,” Emmert told The Associated Press. “Clearly we should have really had a better focus on a number of those details that are hardly details, but are really, really important.”
The NCAA announced on Thursday that it was hiring a law firm to review potential gender equity issues in championship events.
Florida loses 4th player in 3 days
GAINESVILLE, FLA. » It appears Florida coach Mike White will be an active shopper in the burgeoning transfer portal. Forward Osayi Osifo announced plans to play elsewhere, becoming the fourth player in three days to leave White’s program. The 6-foot-7 Osifo played in 20 games this season, scoring 38 points in 199 minutes.