Shaka Smart

Smart was born April 8, 1977, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Winston Smart and Monica King. Smart's father was not supportive of Smart and left the family in 1994. He grew up in Fitchburg and attended Oregon High School in Oregon, Wisconsin. Smart, who is biracial, was one of "10 or so" students of color at Oregon High and experienced racism while attending the school. This led Smart to lead a student group which held multicultural events and seminars on homophobia and racism. He has said these experiences helped him develop his competitive drive.

While in high school, Smart played for the Oregon Panthers basketball team. He was a three-year starter as a point guard for the Panthers and set school records for assists in a game (20), season (291), and career (458). His senior season he was named to the All-Badger Conference second team.

After high school, Smart attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history, focusing on issues of race and the Great Migration. Smart was a four-year starter for the Kenyon Lords basketball team, and set school records for assists in a season (184) and career (542). As a senior, Smart was named to the All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) team and NCAC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Smart was also named to the 1999 USA Today All-USA Academic Team.

After graduating from Kenyon, Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master's degree in social science from California University of Pennsylvania.

Assistant coach

Smart's coaching career began in 1999 as an assistant coach at California University of Pennsylvania under Bill Brown, his former coach at Kenyon. He followed that with a position as the director of basketball operations at University of Dayton and assistant coaching positions at University of Akron, Clemson University, and the University of Florida.

VCU

In 2009, Smart was hired as the head coach of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) following Anthony Grant's departure to become the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. At the time of his hiring, he was one of the youngest head coaches in NCAA Division I basketball. In his first season, he led the Rams to a 27-10 record and a CBI Championship after VCU swept Saint Louis in the championship best-of-three series.

Smart's second season began with star forward Larry Sanders declaring for the 2010 NBA draft. Without Sanders, the Rams went 23-11 and played in their second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championship game, losing to Old Dominion.

VCU was given an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA tournament. The decision was met with controversy given the Rams 3-5 record that February. They played in the First Four against University of Southern California (USC) for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. VCU defeated USC and upset Georgetown University and Purdue University to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. VCU beat Florida State University 72-71 in overtime to earn the school's first spot in the Elite Eight and subsequently upset the top-seeded University of Kansas 71-61 for its first Final Four appearance. The Rams lost to Butler 70-62 in the semifinal game. Smart signed an eight-year, $1.2 million per year contract extension with VCU following the school's loss to Butler.

Smart became the second-youngest coach to win 100 games, with a 90-63 victory over Duquesne University in January 2013.

Texas

In 2015, Smart became the head coach of the University of Texas men's basketball team. In his first season at Texas, he led the Longhorns to a 20-13 record and received the sixth seed in the NCAA tournament, which the Houston Chronicle described as having "surpassed all realistic expectations." That offseason, Smart received a contract extension which would keep him at Texas through the 2022-23 season.

In May 2017, Smart received a commitment from Mohamed Bamba, the second-ranked overall player in the 2017 recruiting class, to play at Texas. He also received commitments from Gerald Liddell, Brock Cunningham, Jaxson Hayes, and Kamaka Hepa in what was the eighth-ranked recruiting class in the country. Smart led the 2017-18 Longhorns to a 19-15 record. The team lost in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament to the University of Nevada in overtime.

In the 2018-19 season, Smart led Texas to a 21-16 record and a National Invitation Tournament championship, the school's first since 1978.

Smart ended a three-season absence from the NCAA tournament in 2021 when he led the Longhorns to a 19-8 record and a Big 12 conference championship. The Longhorns were given the No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and were defeated by Abilene Christian University in the first round, after which San Antonio Express-News reporter Nick Moyle questioned Smart's job security. At the time, Smart had two years left on his coaching contract and could be bought out for $7.1 million. Smart left Texas in March 2021.

Marquette

Marquette University hired Smart to replace Steve Wojciechowski as the Golden Eagles' head coach in March 2021. Smart led the Golden Eagles to 19-13 record the following season, where they lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to the University of North Carolina. In his second season in Milwaukee, Smart led the Golden Eagles to a Big East regular season crown and a tournament championship, despite being chosen in preseason polls to finish ninth in the conference.

At the close of the 2022-23 season, Smart won the Henry Iba Award as the national coach of the year.

Coaching style

At VCU, Smart's teams employed a high-pressure style of play known as "havoc". In this style, offense is based on attacking inside and the defense heavily utilizes full court pressure, double teams, and traps to force turnovers and disrupt opposing offenses. At Texas, Smart employed this style less frequently.

Smart has been described as a relationship builder and been noted for his ability to increase team camaraderie. Furthermore, Smart is nationally known as a player developer as opposed to acquiring players out of the transfer portal.

Smart was named after the Zulu monarch Shaka kaSenzangakhona. Though often teased about his name growing up, Smart has said being named Shaka was the "best thing" his father did for him. Smart's middle name, Dingani, is a Ndebele word meaning "one who is searching".

Smart is married to Maya Payne Smart, an author and professor at Marquette University. The couple have one child. He has six siblings.

Smart campaigned for Barack Obama in Florida in 2008 and Virginia in 2012.