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KANSAS CITY, MON – MARCH 07: Texas Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart reacts to the bench in the first round of the Big 12 basketball tournament against the Iowa State Cyclones at the Sprint Center on March 7, 2018 in Kansas City. Missouri. (Photo of Jamie Squire / Getty Images)After a tough regular season in the Big 12, it seemed like Texas head coach, Shaka Smart, was perhaps missing. But five consecutive victories on the way to a NIT title at Madison Square Garden might have led sports director Chris Del Conte to reconsider his decision.
In an interview with Horns247, Del Conte confirmed that Smart would return to Texas for a fifth season after finishing 21-16. However, Del Conte also said the team was out of place and pointed out that the goal was to win the NCAA tournament, not the NIT.
"We are not where we want to be," Del Conte told Horns247. "But we are progressing. Our goal is to win the NCAA Championship. But we won the NIT Championship, and this locker is cohesive … "
Nevertheless, Del Conte conceded that he was happy to see the team win his last game of the season, an 81-66 win over Lipscomb in the NIT final.
Smart had a hard time replicating the success of his predecessor, Rick Barnes.
In four years at the helm, Smart recorded an overall record of 71-66 with a record of 31-41 in Big 12. He led the Texas Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2018, losing in the first round each time .
Last season, the Longhorns played 16-15 in the regular season, finishing sixth, before quickly losing to Kansas in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
But Smart and the Longhorns were more than happy to accept an invitation to the NIT and, after their victory over South Dakota, Xavier, Colorado, TCU and Lipscomb were able to win the second title of the NIT of the school.
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