Head Basketball Coach at University of Texas
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Businesses, Non-profit organizations, event planners and companies across the country have worked closely with our booking agents to hire Shaka Smart for a speaking engagements, guest appearances, product endorsements and corporate events. Many of those same clients have continued to turn to our speakers bureau as we can easily align Shaka Smart’s availability with their upcoming seminar, gala, annual conference, corporate function, and grand opening. Our close relationship with Shaka Smart’s booking agent and management team further enables us to provide inquiring clients with Shaka Smart’s speaking fee and appearance cost.
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Shaka Smart was born April 8, 1977 and is an American college basketball coach, and the current head coach of the University of Texas 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.
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.
On January 19th, 2013, Shaka Smart became the second youngest coach to win 100 games, in a 90-63 victory over Duquens.
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NOPACTalent acts as a Celebrity Speakers Bureau and Athlete Booking agency for corporate functions, appearances, private events and speaking engagements. NOPACTalent does not claim or represent itself as Shaka Smart’s speakers bureau, agent, manager or management company for Shaka Smart or any celebrity on this website. NOPACTalent represents organizations seeking to hire motivational speakers, athletes, celebrities and entertainers for private corporate events, celebrity endorsements, personal appearances, and speaking engagements.
