Marquette's Shaka Smart earns Henry W. Iba Award, given annually to the coach of the year
The Marquette men's basketball team saw its season end on Sunday, but head coach Shaka Smart is still winning awards.
The United States Basketball Writers Association honored Smart on Wednesday with the Henry W. Iba Award, given annually to the coach of the year.
Smart is the first MU coach to win the award since Eddie Hickey in the 1958-59 season.
In Smart's second season at MU, the Golden Eagles won a program-best 29 games. The school also claimed its first Big East outright regular-season title and tournament championship.
The 45-year old Smart was also honored as Big East coach of the year. He is a finalist for the Naismith Award for coach of the year along with Purdue's Matt Painter, Kansas State's Jerome Tang and Houston's Kelvin Sampson.
The Naismith Award winner will be announced on April 2 and the Associated Press' coach of the year will be named on March 31.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's Shaka Smart is USBWA Henry Iba Award coach of the year
