Congratulations to city’s newest head coach, Shaka Smart

We would like to congratulate Marquette University and Marquette Men’s Basketball on the hiring of new head coach Shaka Smart. Mr. Smart is the first African American head coach in the school’s history, and he has a long history of head coaching success with VCU and Texas. He is a Wisconsin native (hailing from Oregon), and we are very happy to welcome him back to our great state. Mr. Smart is a seasoned coach with ample experience as a leader, and we are excited to see how he will lead the young men he will be coaching at Marquette. He is not just a great basketball coach, but also a true leader for local communities.

As we look forward to what Mr. Smart will achieve at Marquette, we also look forward to what he can achieve within our Milwaukee community. Mr. Smart has the firsthand life experiences of a person of color and comes now to reside in a majority-minority city. Basketball and sports have a unique ability to unite people across many cultures through the power of competition and teamwork, and he has the opportunity to help connect people – especially young people – with positive life lessons and messages that can change a life’s trajectory for the better.

As Coach Smart makes Milwaukee his new home, we invite him to take an interest in working with us to build up our city and to take part in the many initiatives we embrace, and ones we are looking to implement moving forward.

We again congratulate Shaka Smart on his new position with Marquette University’s Men’s Basketball team, and we are also very hopeful to see how great of an impact he will have on our community and we look forward to working with him.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.