Duke’s Nate James close to becoming Austin Peay new head basketball coach, sources say
Longtime Duke assistant basketball coach Nate James is closing in on his first head coaching job.
James and Austin Peay are close to finalizing a deal to make him the school’s next head basketball coach, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
A deal is expected to be finalized within the next few days, possibly as soon as Friday.
The move would reunite James with Gerald Harrison, Austin Peay’s athletic director since 2018 who previously was a Duke assistant athletic director from 2008-2018.
James played at Duke from 1997-2001, helping the Blue Devils win the 2001 NCAA championship. After playing overseas, he returned to Durham and has worked in various rules on coach Mike Krzyzewski’s staff since 2007. After starting out as a strength and conditioning coach, James progressed to assistant coach and was named associate head coach in 2017.
Position opens with Governors
The Austin Peay position opened last Sunday when Matt Figger resigned to become head coach at Texas-Rio Grande Valley. He led the Governors to a 76-51 record in four seasons, including 49-25 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Austin Peay was 14-13 this season with a 10-10 league record.
The 2021-22 season with be Austin Peay’s final season at the Winfield Dunn Center, which opened in 1975. The Governors are moving into the new Montgomery County Multi-Purpose Events Center that’s scheduled to open in fall 2022.
Austin Peay has played in six NCAA tournaments, including four trips during Dave Loos’ 27-year coaching tenure from 1990-2017. The Governors’ last appearance came in 2016.
What this means for the Blue Devils
A James departure for Austin Peay would remove a coach from Duke’s staff who worked mainly with interior players. Freshman center Mark Williams credited his work last season with James as playing a big role in his development during the season.
The move would open up a spot for Nolan Smith to become a full assistant coach with off-campus recruiting privileges and the freedom to coach players in on-court situations. Smith, a starting guard on Duke’s 2010 NCAA championship team and the 2011 ACC player of the year, joined the Duke staff as a special assistant coach in 2016.
Since 2018, he’s been the program’s director of basketball operations and player development. The NCAA only allows the head coach and three assistants to work on the court with players and have full recruiting privileges. James, Jon Scheyer and Chris Carrawell were the assistants with those jobs the last three seasons.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 4:01 PM.