Men’s basketball adds Luke Yaklich as associate head coach

By Steve Lansdale

AUSTIN, Texas — Luke Yaklich has been named associate head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Texas after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan.

Yaklich joins head coach Shaka Smart’s staff in Austin after helping to guide the Wolverines to back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16, including an appearance in the 2018 national championship game. He[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] replaces Darrin Horn, who left UT earlier this spring to take over as the head coach at Northern Kentucky.

“I’m extremely excited about Luke joining our staff,” Smart said. “He has tremendous passion for teaching the game and helping student-athletes move forward as people and players.

“His background as a head coach at the high school level for many years gives him a unique perspective in terms of the way he interacts with players. Luke is a true teacher. That word gets thrown around a lot, but he literally was in the classroom for nearly 15 years and still thinks of himself that way.”

Yaklich worked the previous two seasons as an assistant coach under John Beilein at Michigan. During Yaklich’s time in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines compiled an overall record of 63-15 (.808) and advanced to the 2018 NCAA Championship game and the 2019 NCAA Round of 16.

For Yaklich, the move to Austin means joining forces with a coach he has studied from afar for years.

“Throughout my coaching career, I’ve always aspired to continue to grow,” Yaklich said. “Part of that growth process for me was to study great coaches who build their programs around a culture. I studied what Coach Smart had done at VCU when I was a high school coach and continued to follow him at Texas when I began coaching in college. When Coach Beilein accepted the Cleveland Cavaliers job and this position was open, I talked to Coach Smart about what he was looking for with this position and became incredibly excited about this opportunity to coach at the University of Texas.”

During his first season in Ann Arbor, Yaklich helped the Wolverines transform their defense, ranking eighth in the nation with just 63.3 points allowed per game, en route to a 33-8 record, ultimately falling to Villanova in the NCAA title game. The team’s 33 victories were the most in school history.

Before heading to UM, Yaklich spent four years at his alma mater, Illinois State, where he helped lead ISU to a pair of Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles and MVC tournament titles, and trips in 1997 and 1998 to the NCAA Tournament.

Smart said his work ethic and determination were among the categories that made him conclude that Yaklich would be a strong addition to the UT staff.

“Luke has a phenomenal work ethic and a consistent drive to help his teams be successful,” Smart said. “He’s a good fit for our staff because he brings a passion and commitment to all the little things and the details that go into making a program successful. He is not in any way afraid to roll up his sleeves and do whatever is needed.”

For his part, Yaklich said he is heading to Austin with only big-picture goals in mind.

“I am really blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity to impact the student-athletes at the University of Texas and help continue to build the culture here,” Yaklich said. “I want to help us become the best possible defensive team that we can and work with each of our student-athletes on a daily basis to help them grow on and off the court. Ultimately, we want to win Big 12 Conference titles, get to the NCAA Tournament and advance, and play for a National Championship.”
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]