Austin Peay has hired Duke associate head coach Nate James to lead the Governors program, the school announced on Friday. James is a former Blue Devils’ player who has worked under Coach K for the last twelve seasons.
“Nate is a man of incredible integrity who has been a huge part of one of college basketball’s most successful programs for much of the last two decades,” AD Gerald Harrison said in the release. “He is committed to the student-athlete experience and the principles of the ‘Total Gov Concept.’ His depth of experience, his ability to recruit and retain outstanding young men, and his desire to help them excel on and off the court will make him a huge asset to our university and our department. Simply put, Nate James is a champion and a leader. I am proud to say he is the head coach of the Austin Peay Men’s Basketball team.”
This is the first head coaching opportunity for James, who joins the long list of former Krzyzewski players and assistants to get head coach jobs at the Division I level. James was part of three National Championships at Duke, two as an assistant (2010 and 2015) and one as a junior (and co-captain) in 2001.
“I’m extremely excited and honored to be the 13th head men’s basketball coach at Austin Peay State University,” James said. “To have the opportunity to lead my own program, be part of the amazing vision for a place like APSU and serve a community that embraces its university and student-athletes has been a dream of mine for quite some time. It is exactly what every coach wishes for. I will work endlessly to build a basketball culture with the type of culture that every player, alum, donor and fan will always be proud of. This is an amazing day to be a Gov! Let’s Go Peay!”
Austin Peay is 76-51 over the last four seasons under former head coach Matt Figger, who took the UTRGV job last month. Before that, they were coached for 27 years by Dave Loos to took the Governors to four NCAA Tournaments and won five Ohio Valley titles.
credit to Austin Peay Athletics for the image
