Photo c/o Shaka Smart’s website, coachsmart.com

The open bar is enticing, but everybody knows that Senior Soiree is such an *event* because of one important announcement. One important announcement built on four years of anticipation, that reveals the last taste that will be left in the collective mouth of the graduating class. Indeed, the commencement speaker for 2017 was announced last evening. The Senior class sighed one collective sigh of relief because the anticipation is over. It is my pleasure to announce once more that Shaka Smart will be visiting our fine campus, addressing our fine Seniors on one fine, fated day in May. A member of Kenyon’s class of ’99, Shaka Smart is now the head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Texas. Of course you already knew that, but here are some fun facts about Shaka Smart that you might not have known.

1. Smart’s defensive philosophy is called “havoc,” as in: “We are going to wreak havoc on our opponent’s psyche and their plan of attack.” Havoc is very effective, as his overall record in 2015 was 163-56, which “tied him for the second-highest number of total victories during the first six years of a head coaching career in NCAA history.” (Quote taken from coachsmart.com)
   

   Photo of Smart wreaking havoc c/o Wahoo247

2. He was a second-term “All-Badger Conference pick” at Oregon High School in Wisconsin.
3. He makes 3 mill a year  
4. Smart still holds the record for the most career assists in Kenyon’s history (542)!! As an undergraduate at our fine alma mater, Shaka Smart studied History and graduated magna cum laude. According to his Wikipedia page, he fell in love with quotations while at Kenyon, and now his quote Word document is over 110 pages long!

5. In his free time, Shaka Smart enjoys nature documentaries about big cats.