Report: Shaka Smart, Texas to hire Michigan assistant coach Luke Yaklich

A little more than a month after former Texas Longhorns assistant coach Darrin Horn departed from the program to take over as the new head coach of Northern Kentucky, Shaka Smart has found his replacement on the coaching staff, as Texas is reportedly set to hire Michigan assistant Luke Yaklich as an assistant coach, per CBS Sports Jon Rothstein.

The news comes fewer than two weeks after Yaklich and his wife, Amy, reportedly met with Smart and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte.

Yaklich’s reported departure from Michigan, too, comes in the aftermath of coaching changes, as long-time Michigan head John Beilein was recently named as the new head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yaklich has spent the previous two seasons under Beilein’s tutelage and has been largely credited with headlining Michigan’s defensive overhaul in short order, as detailed by Michigan athletic’s official site.

“In his first season with Michigan, Yaklich was instrumental in transforming U-M’s defensive approach as the Wolverines led the Big Ten in scoring defense for first time since 1964 and closed eighth nationally in scoring defense (63.3 points per game allowed). Overall, U-M was third in Defensive Efficiency according to the KenPom ratings (90.5).”

More recently, Michigan boasted the nation’s second-best adjusted defensive efficiency rating (86.2), per KenPom, trailing only Texas Tech.

Collectively, the 43-year-old Yaklich owns 20-plus years of coaching experience; most of which came among the high school ranks.