Shaka Smart - VCU Rams Head Men's Basketball Coach
In this interview style session with VCU Athletic Director, Norwood Teague, Coach Smart will discuss what it takes to make a winning team and the importance of leadership and teamwork.
At the age of 34, Smart is one of college basketball's 10 youngest Division I coaches. No one would know that based off of results, though.
In two seasons at VCU, Smart is a stellar 55-21 (.724 winning percentage), capturing the College Basketball Invitational title in 2009-10 and advancing the school's first-ever Final Four in 2010-11. In two seasons, Smart is 10-1 in postseason games.
In his first year as a head coach at VCU, Smart turned heads, winning 27 of 36 games. But no amount of first-year success would compare to his sophomore campaign, in which Smart's squad tied a program record with 28 wins and advanced all the way to the NCAA Final Four.
Prior to this past March, no VCU team had ever won more than one game in the NCAA Tournament. This team won five, captivating the nation as it became just the third No. 11 seed to ever advance to the national semifinals.
The Rams finished the season ranked No. 6 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, the highest national ranking ever by a Colonial Athletic Association member.
Smart credits his success to those he learned under as an assistant, which includes stints with Billy Donovan's staff at Florida, Oliver Purnell at Clemson and Dayton, Keith Dambrot at Akron and Bill Brown at California University of Pa.