<p>MILWAUKEE — Shaka Smart is leaving Texas to return to his home state to coach Marquette.</p>
<p>Marquette announced the hiring on Friday. It comes a week after Marquette fired Steve Wojciechowski and Smart’s Texas team was upset 53-52 by Abilene Christian in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.</p>
<p>“Throughout the search, one individual continued to rise to the top and that was Shaka,” Marquette athletic director Bill Scholl said Friday in a statement. “I am beyond excited for our current and future student-athletes who will have the great fortune of being mentored by Shaka. He is a great teacher of the game, while also being a great molder of young men."</p>
<p>Smart’s decision to head north ends a six-season tenure at Texas that fell short of the lofty expectations that accompanied his arrival.</p>
<p>Smart went 109-86 with no NCAA Tournament victories at Texas after a remarkably successful six-year run at VCU, where he went 163-56 and led the Rams to a Final Four appearance in 2011. Texas went 19-8 this season and won the Big 12 Tournament before its early NCAA exit.</p>
<p>This marks a bit of a homecoming for Smart, who went to high school at Oregon, Wisconsin, just outside Madison. His arrival should provide a burst of energy for a Marquette program that went 128-95 overall and 59-68 in Big East competition during Wojciechowski’s seven seasons.</p>
<p>Marquette went 13-14 this season for its first losing season since Wojciechowski’s debut year of 2014-15. </p>
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<p>More AP college basketball coverage: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball">https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball</a> and updated bracket: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket">https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket</a></p>
