Shaka Smart

Shaka Smart
Sport(s)	Basketball
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	VCU
Conference	CAA
Annual salary	$1,200,000
Biographical details
Born	April 8, 1977 (1977-04-08)
Place of birth	Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Playing career
1995–1999	Kenyon College
Position(s)	Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2001 2001–2003 2003–2006 2006–2008 2008–2009 2009–	California (PA) (asst.) Dayton (dir. of basketball ops.) Akron (asst.) Clemson (asst.) Florida (asst.) VCU
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
CBI Tournament Champions (2010) Regional Championships – Final Four (2011)

Shaka Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American college basketball coach, and the current head coach of the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams men's basketball program. Before accepting the job at VCU, Smart served as an assistant coach for the Akron Zips, Clemson Tigers and Florida Gators men's basketball programs.

Playing career

In high school, Smart was a three-year starter for Oregon High School in Wisconsin. He was a second-team All-Badger Conference pick as a senior and by the end of his career was the all-time assists leader at Oregon for a career (458), season (201) and single game (20).

After graduating from high school, Smart attended Kenyon College, a liberal arts school in Ohio. On the ESPN program Pardon the Interruption, Smart credited his personal relationship with then Head Coach Bill Brown as the reason for his decision. As a member of the Kenyon College basketball team, he was an all-conference selection as a senior and is the school's career assists leader (542). Smart was named a member of the 1999 USA TODAY All-USA Academic Team.

Coaching career

Assistant coach

Smart began his coaching career in 1999 as an assistant at California University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned a Master's Degree. Afterwards, he was hired as Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Dayton. He was then an assistant at the University of Akron for three years, Clemson for two, and Florida for one.

VCU

VCU hired Smart to be the head coach in the spring of 2009 after the previous coach, Anthony Grant, left to become the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. Smart's hire made him the 10th youngest head coach in Division I. In his first season, he led the Rams to a 27–10 season and a CBI Championship after VCU swept Saint Louis in the championship best of three series.

Smart's second season began with forward Larry Sanders declaring for the 2010 NBA Draft after his junior season. Sanders' selection by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 15th pick made VCU the first school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to have a player selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in consecutive years, as the Utah Jazz had selected guard Eric Maynor with the 20th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. The Rams under Smart went 23–11 in the 2010–2011 season. Smart led the Rams to their second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association Championship Game, where they lost to Old Dominion.

Despite not securing the automatic bid, VCU earned an at-large bid to the Southwest region of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, but were placed in the "First Four" against USC for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. The Rams' selection into the tournament was widely criticized. His coaching strategy, positive outlook, and patience helped VCU defeat USC in the First Four, and then upset the 6th-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and 3rd-seeded Purdue Boilermakers to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. VCU won 72–71 against Florida State University 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. But in the Final Four, the Rams lost to Butler 70-62.

On April 4, 2011, Smart agreed to an 8-year contract extension with the VCU Rams, increasing his base pay from $350,000 to $1.2 million per year, prior to any performance bonuses. Players who have played and will be playing for VCU are Bradford Burgess, Joey Rodriquez, Jordan Burgess, Nick Coppola, and Nick Gorski

Style of play

Smart's teams play a style of basketball known as "havoc." Smart described his "havoc" defensive philosophy during his introductory press conference as, "We are going to wreak havoc on our opponent's psyche and their plan of attack." On the court, the "havoc" defensive mindset is visible through the heavy use of the full court press and pressing after made baskets to disrupt opponents' timing of offensive sets. In his second season, VCU led the Colonial Athletic Association in steals. Offensively, Smart-coached teams play uptempo and push the ball after misses and makes with what Smart describes as "The freedom to make plays in the open court."^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Smart's given name was bestowed in honor of the famous Zulu warrior. He graduated magna cum laude from Kenyon with a degree in History, researching and writing on issues related to race and the Great Migration his junior and senior years. Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master's degree in social science at California University of Pennsylvania.

Shaka Smart developed a love for quotations at Kenyon. Smart began writing down quotes into a digital document that is now over 110 pages long.

Smart has been married to Maya Payne, a professional writer, since 2006. Their child, Zora Sanae Smart, was born on Sept. 25, 2011.

Smart's half-brother is the writer and professor J.M. Tyree.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
VCU Rams (Colonial Athletic Association) (2009–present)
2009–10	VCU	27–9	11–7	5th	CBI Champions
2010–11	VCU	28–11	12–6	4th	NCAA Final Four
2011–12	VCU	12–5	3–2	T–4th
Total:		67–26
National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion       Conference regular season & conference tournament champion       Conference division champion