March Madness is still hitting the Texas basketball program. Shortly after the Longhorns were shockingly upset by Abilene Christian in the NCAA Tournament, Royce Hamm and Kai Jones announced that they would be leaving the program.
Texas fans didn’t have to wait long to hear who was leaving next.
It’s only surprising that this one was under his own power. Despite the pouring outrage calling for Shaka Smart’s job, he decided to leave under his own volition and has agreed to become the new head coach of the Marquette Golden Eagles program.
The news was first reported on Twitter via Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Sources: Marquette will hire Texas' Shaka Smart as its next head basketball coach.https://t.co/ldBUWWHK90
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 26, 2021
During his time at Texas, Smart was expected to make a Final Four run like he did during his time at VCU. However, the Longhorns never came close during his six year tenure as head coach.
His career record at Texas was 109-86 overall, but was just under .500 in Big 12 play at 52-56 — a major concern during his time. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte had expressed his support for Smart despite making it to the NCAA Tournament three times (2015-16, 2017-18, 2020-21), all of which resulted in first round losses and a 2018-19 NIT Championship.
Smart only had one losing season at Texas, but there were only two seasons where he finished above .500 in conference play, including this past season which resulted in the Longhorns first Big 12 tournament championship.
With more Longhorns expected to declare for the upcoming NBA Draft, whoever the next head coach is will have their work cut out for them.