Coach K promotes Nolan Smith to assistant coach. What that means for Duke basketball.
With one former Duke basketball team captain moving to his first head coaching job, another is moving into a larger role on coach Mike Krzyzewski’s staff.
Nolan Smith, the 2011 ACC player of the year who also captained the Blue Devils that season as a senior, is now an assistant coach on Duke’s staff. Smith replaces the position left open when Nate James, a team captain during his Duke player days before becoming an assistant coach, was named Austin Peay’s head coach on April 2.
Smith had opportunities to leave Duke before now, most notably last summer when Memphis coach Penny Hardaway offered him the coach to become an assistant coach with the Tigers. Smith said Krzyzewski pulled him in his office and their conversation was brief.
“(Coach K) said, ‘Look, someone’s going to get a head coaching job, and you’ll get moved up,’” Smith told reporters on a video conference Thursday. “He said, ‘Stay here, trust me.’ It’s funny, he’s always said, ‘Trust me.’ And I always have. I’ve never wavered my trust from coach and he said, ‘You’re on the right plan. You’re on the right path.’ And it worked out.”
A first-round pick by the Portland Trail Blazers following his Duke playing career, Smith returned to Duke as a special assistant on Krzyzewski’s staff in 2016. In 2018, Smith became the team’s director of basketball operations and player development.
Both roles, though, didn’t allow him to work on the court with players or recruit off-campus full time. NCAA rules limit those duties to the head coach and three assistant coaches. The rules did, however, provide Smith a small window to fill-in on occasion in one of their four spots on the road recruiting. It gave him insight into the first thing he has to do now that he’ll be full time -- “step up his shoe game.”
“I’m telling you that’s a big thing, these recruits, they want to see your shoe game,” Smith said. “I have to make sure that’s fresh and make sure my gear is fresh when we get on the road. I’m just excited to be in those gyms as a full time coach and watch the high school players play and look for the right fit for Duke basketball.”
With his promotion, the 32-year-old Smith can now fulfill those duties along with Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer and Blue Devils assistant coach Chris Carrawell.
As a player, Smith was a two-time, all-ACC selection as a guard while helping the Blue Devils win the 2010 NCAA tournament championship. He and Scheyer comprised Duke’s starting backcourt that season.
As a senior, Smith averaged 20.6 points per game and was named a first-team, all-American in addition to the ACC’s player of the year and tournament most valuable player.
“I thought I was going to play a lot longer, but due to injuries, I found myself back here,” Smith said.. “My dad coached for the Washington Bullets when he passed away. So he went from a player to coach so that was always my vision that when I stopped playing, I would join the coaching ranks. So here I am.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 11:10 AM.