Shaka Smart avoids addressing Texas basketball questions with media

Ahead of their meeting with the eight-seed North Carolina Tar Heels, former Texas basketball head coach Shaka Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles were looking to pull off the upset in the Round of 64. But Marquette looked like they were facing an uphill battle as a sizable underdog against the Tar Heels for this being an 8-9 matchup in the Round of 64.

But what was even more interesting concerning Smart and the Golden Eagles ahead of this Round of 64 matchup against the Tar Heels on March 17 were some questions he was asked in relation to his time as the Longhorns head coach.

Smart was specifically asked about his time as the Longhorns head coach, and how that could prepare him for playing at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, with the Golden Eagles on March 17. This was essentially a question that he completely avoided. That was the case at least in terms of responding with anything specifically on his time with the Longhorns or how he felt about that situation.

Here’s more on what Smart had to say on this matter about a question about his time with the Longhorns (monologue thanks to 247Sports).

Former Texas basketball HC Shaka Smart avoids most questions about the Longhorns

"“Just happy to be here. Excited to be in Fort Worth. I mean, it — at the beginning of every season, I always look at the NCAA tournament sites. And in this case this year, our home court is one of them; so there was only seven that we could go to. So I knew it was going to be one of the sites. And, you know, we’re excited to be here. I’ve coached one game previously in Dickies Arena. It’s a wonderful place. You know, great fans, basketball fans in this area of the country. So I’m just happy to be here with our guys and excited about the opportunity we get to play, you know, in my opinion, one of probably the most historic basketball programs in college basketball. And there’s not a group of guys I’d rather be here with.”"

The only thing that Smart really had to say in regard to his time with the Longhorns was the fact that he was “grateful” for the time he spent on the Forty Acres. He pretty much danced around the subject with every other question he was asked in relation to his time as the Texas head coach this week.

However, it makes sense on the surface that Smart would try to avoid these questions. He likely wouldn’t want to give his team any sort of distractions ahead of their first-round matchup against the Tar Heels.

Smart hasn’t found much success so far, though, in this Round of 64 matchup between UNC and Marquette. At halftime, Marquette is down by a score of 53-25 against UNC.

It looks like Smart’s struggles in the NCAA Tournament are continuing with his new team. He was never able to win a single game in the NCAA Tournament during his roughly half-decade-long tenure as Texas’ head coach.

The six-seed Texas is set to take on the 11-seed and reigning ACC Tournament Champion Virginia Tech Hokies in their Round of 64 matchup on March 18. First-year head coach Chris Beard will be looking to lead the Longhorns to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2014.