Texas ‘Shaka Smart is in talks with Marquette to become the Golden Eagles’ next head coach, sources told ESPN.
An agreement is expected to be reached imminently.
Smart, a native of Wisconsin, has been Texas ’head coach for six seasons. The Longhorns have gone to three NCAA tournaments under Smart, but have yet to win any NCAA tournament games with him at the helm. They won the Big 12 conference tournament earlier this month, but were upset by 14-brother Abilene Christian in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Smart has been in the hot seat of Austin for two years, but the pandemic will likely save him after the 2019-20 season. His purchase after this season in Texas would have been about $ 7 million.
Prior to taking over in Texas, Smart was VCU’s head coach, leading the Rams to five straight appearances in the NCAA tournament, including the 2011 Four Four final.
Smart would replace Steve Wojciechowski, who was sacked earlier this month after seven seasons with the Golden Eagles.
Among Texas’ top goals is expected to be Texas Tech coach Chris Beard, who went to Texas and was an assistant to the Longhorns under the direction of Tom Penders. His purchase to go to another Big 12 school drops to $ 4 million on Thursday, sources told ESPN.