March Madness offers an opportunity for coaches to stake their place in history with a memorable run in the NCAA Tournament. Marquette's Shaka Smart has a reputation as a March Madness genius thanks to his remarkable run from the First Four to the Final Four with VCU in 2011, one heck of a way to welcome the inception of the extra round for the final at-large teams.
That glorious three weeks helped VCU move into the A-10 and Smart eventually got to Texas, landing a power-conference gig at one of the nation's most lucrative athletic programs. A less-than-stellar run for Smart there led to him ending up at Marquette, where he has done good work with the Golden Eagles but has continued to fall short in March.
Shaka Smart gets bounced early again in the NCAA Tournament
Marquette's season came to a crashing halt with a loss to New Mexico in the Round of 64, a shocking fall from grace for a season in which the Golden Eagles spend a lot of time inside the top 10. This is not so shocking for Smart, however, who hasn't quite lived up to the hype of his VCU run in the years since.
Smart has been a Division I coach in each of the 14 seasons since VCU's Final Four run, split between the Rams (through 2015), Texas (2015-2021) and Marquette (2021-present). Those programs have reached the NCAA Tournament 11 times under Smart's guidance, but just one has reached the second weekend: Marquette's Sweet 16 appearance last year.
Texas was a particularly disappointing era of Smart's career as the Longhorns failed to win an NCAA Tournament game in three trips (although a potential fourth appearance was scuttled when the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Marquette also experienced a notable disappointment in the 2023 NCAA Tournament under Smart, as a 29-win team that earned a No. 2 seed was bounced in the Round of 32 by No. 7 seed Michigan State.
While there is no doubt that Smart is an excellent coach who is great at making the NCAA Tournament, his success in March Madness is a bit overstated. There is plenty of time for Smart, who is still only 47 years old, to burnish another deep tournament run to enhance his legacy but it is fair to say his prowess in the one-and-done nature of March Madness leaves plenty to be desired.