NCAA Basketball: Top 10 head coaching hires from 2021 offseason

Feb 16, 2019; Winston-Salem, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams, left, talks to assistant coaches Hubert Davis, center, and Brad Frederick as the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the second half at Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The North Carolina Tar Heels won 95-57. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball Shaka Smart Ebony Cox/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK /

6: Craig Smith – Utah Utes

Craig Smith will be joining the Utah Utes as their 16th head coach in men’s basketball program history.

He compiled a 74-24 record in his 10 seasons with the Utah State Aggies. His resume includes three straight 20-win seasons with the Aggies and a couple of NCAA tournament bids.

He also holds several accolades and awards as a coach including, four conference coach of the year awards, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 12 Coach of the Year Award in 2017, and the NABC District 17 Coach of the Year in 2019.

We will see how Smith does on the other side of Utah but, we can expect him to carry his success to the Utes and against the rest of the Pac-12 Conference.

5: Shaka Smart – Marquette Golden Eagles

Long-time college basketball coach Shaka Smart will be joining the Marquette University Golden Eagles to replace Steve Wojciechowski.

The Wisconsin-native is leaving Texas is returning to Milwaukee following a frustrating six-year stint with the Longhorns.

Smart finished with a 109-86 record at Texas, however, never quite met expectations. He did not have any NCAA tournament victories.

Smart had an unbelievable six-year stint with the VCU Rams prior to his time at Texas. He compiled a 163-56 record with the Rams and led their 2011 run to the Final Four.

Marquette finished with a 13-14 record this past season and only made two NCAA Tournament appearances under Wojciechowski. So, Smart will have his hands full in preparation for this season.

Although the Golden Eagles are retaining most players, they did recently lose Theo John who will be transferring to Duke. They did also have a few other players transfer in Jamal Cain (Oakland), Koby McEwen (Weber State), and Symir Torrence (Syracuse).

Marquette did recently land Tyler Kolek who transferred from George Mason University. The Rhode Island native is the former Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. Kolek will bring a high-class shooting ability for Marquette next season. He ranked second nationally amongst freshmen in three-pointers made per game.

Shaka Smart will have to work with a younger roster in the 2020-21 season. However, we can expect the Marquette Golden Eagles to return to an elite program in the Big East in the Shaka Smart era.

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