Marquette and Shaka Smart have reached an agreement in principle for the current Texas coach to take over the Golden Eagles’ job, a source told CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish. Smart is a Wisconsin native who has been facing increased scrutiny at Texas for his lack of postseason success.
Smart is 109-86 overall at Texas with a 52-56 mark in the Big 12 and no NCAA Tournament victories. The No. 3 seed Longhorns were upset in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament by No. 14 seed Abilene Christian.
At Marquette, Smart would replace Steve Wojciechowski, who was fired this month after seven seasons on the job.
The move would leave two of the most prominent programs in the Big 12 searching for new coaches after rival Oklahoma saw coach Lon Kruger announced his retirement Thursday.
While the change for Smart may seem like a lateral move to some, it would free him from near-constant scrutiny and allow him to return to his home state. Smart is from Madison, Wisconsin, and attended college in the nearby town of Oregon.
Though his Longhorns won the 2021 Big 12 Tournament, they have yet to find true postseason success under Smart. In many ways, the 2020-21 season was a disappointment due in large part to their early NCAA Tournament exit.