Nolan Smith

[Laettner15]

Just read on from Adam Rowe's Twitter that Nolan Smith was hired as a Special Asst coach on the Duke bench.

I love this move! Always loved Nolan and I think he will be huge on the recruiting trail!

 

[BOOGIEMAN1914]

nice!!!....was this position what carrawell and scheyer had recently?

 

[DukeDenver]

I saw him right behind the bench @ Louisville. I believe he was wearing a tie.

 

[2004Audi]

i thought he tweeted that he did not make the Louisville game? at any rate, I hope he gets his twitter account locked down now. too many times he gets involved in twitter beefs and as a coach I don't think he needs to anymore. I have also seen him call out refs during and after games. with all that said I am glad he is part of the program and should do well in recruiting going forward if that becomes something he is interested in.

 

[Baller224]

Happy for Nolan. I know he he has been wanting to get on staff. This is a good hire for recruiting too.

 

[Baller224]

i thought he tweeted that he did not make the Louisville game? at any rate, I hope he gets his twitter account locked down now. too many times he gets involved in twitter beefs and as a coach I don't think he needs to anymore. I have also seen him call out refs during and after games. with all that said I am glad he is part of the program and should do well in recruiting going forward if that becomes something he is interested in.

I immediately thought about that once I read this, and completely agree with your assessment. I expect he will shut it down.

 

[Laettner15]

i thought he tweeted that he did not make the Louisville game? at any rate, I hope he gets his twitter account locked down now. too many times he gets involved in twitter beefs and as a coach I don't think he needs to anymore. I have also seen him call out refs during and after games. with all that said I am glad he is part of the program and should do well in recruiting going forward if that becomes something he is interested in.

That's a great point Audi.... I would think there was probably a stipulation from K that if he accepted he would have to stop with the tweets... I could be completely wrong.

 

[Get Nasty]

Very Very young staff............. other than K obviously.

I personally think K is hiring young coaches because he needs to use them as practice bodies since he doesn't like to have more than 7 able bodies during the season!!!

 

[Dad2ze]

Nolan is a class act! Always happy and smiling.

 

[HuffyJB]

Great hire. Though I wonder if that signals the end of Nolan's professional basketball pursuits.

 

[adm015]

I am glad Coach K added him to his staff. I think he will really be able to help players like Thornton develop even more.

 

[crazyduke3]

He is a die hard duke guy who went to bat for Duke on twitter, should love it honestly. He is obviously not stupid enough to cotinue to engage it but even if does just a lil who cares? Jim Harbaugh does it and it's awesome how he goes about it.


Love Nolan so much so will be awesome to see the peoples champ with the guys. Wonder if this officially ends his bball career. I know he is getting married and may be looking for something permanent in his favorite city.

 

[dukedevilz]

I never understood what happened to him as a professional. I mean how did he go from 1st Team All-American to being waived by an NBDL team?

 

[pisgah101]

I never understood what happened to him as a professional. I mean how did he go from 1st Team All-American to being waived by an NBDL team?

Injuries suck

 

[Tlass]

Great pick up by Coach K. Being young, Nolan may be able to relate to the players in ways other coaches can't.

 

[gottagonow]

I never understood what happened to him as a professional. I mean how did he go from 1st Team All-American to being waived by an NBDL team?

There's never a guarantee a College All American will make it in the pros but he was a great college player for us.

 

[twdukefan]

What I immediately thought of was how this would help even further with recruiting. He always seemed like a guy who could get along with anyone, he'll have no time relating to a lot of recruits, and he can always flash his championship ring!

 

[dukiejay]

Awesome hire!

 

[skysdad]

I think Nolan is a great addition to the Duke program. OFC

 

[crazyduke3]

Love this man

 

[Dattier]

What I immediately thought of was how this would help even further with recruiting. He always seemed like a guy who could get along with anyone, he'll have no time relating to a lot of recruits, and he can always flash his championship ring!

Yep, me, too. I remember when he was playing for us there was discussion about how he represented a really important shift in recruiting, namely that he was really, really likeable, and -- if we're being honest -- that he was Black, b/c it broadened our appeal among recruits at a time when JJ, McRoberts, Paulus, Scheyer, and Singler were among our more prominent faces, many of whom were intensely disliked, fairly or not.

 

[Get Nasty]

Awesome hire!

How does a hire like this work mid season? Is he starting right away on the recruiting trail, or game film? The games I've been at this year Nolan was always there but in street clothes even on the road. Was there an open spot and K was waiting for the right fit, or did someone leave? Has nolan been with the team in practices and K saw how good he was with the players? Just curious how this came about.

 

[Laettner]

Another great leader on our bench. Nolan's transformation from Soph to Senior was incredible. Played game of his life against Baylor in the 2010 Elite 8. What a performance.

 

[dukiejay]

How does a hire like this work mid season? Is he starting right away on the recruiting trail, or game film? The games I've been at this year Nolan was always there but in street clothes even on the road. Was there an open spot and K was waiting for the right fit, or did someone leave? Has nolan been with the team in practices and K saw how good he was with the players? Just curious how this came about.

From my understanding, Nolan has been serving this role for most of the season already....just behind the scenes. Maybe it was an internship while on the job sort of thing? I don't know.

Nolan has been working closely with the team all year and has had a major role in mentoring Derryck Thornton. After suffering a major knee injury last year he was back at Duke to rehab. I don't think his knee has bounced back as he had hoped and has sort of forced him to look at life after (playing) basketball.

 

[pisgah101]

He can't technically go on recruiting trips can he?

 

[diehardDUKIEnKY]

Nolan is a class act! Always happy and smiling.

Yes yes he is, and has been that way every single time I've had the privilege of crossing paths with him. His mom was the exact same way in the couple times I encountered them both together. I'm thrilled he is joining our staff!!!

 

[dukiejay]

Yes yes he is, and has been that way every single time I've had the privilege of crossing paths with him. His mom was the exact same way in the couple times I encountered them both together. I'm thrilled he is joining our staff!!!

He's a great kid....I know, I know, but I still call him a kid.

I have an acquaintance around the Duke program. A few weeks back I took my wife to Cameron for the first time and my friend gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the offices and such. We were about to go up in the elevator when Nolan stepped out. Of course my friend knew him and introduced us, and Nolan took a picture with my wife (he was her favorite player on the 2010 team, along with Jon). Anyway, the following day, about an hour or so after the UVA game ended, we saw Nolan outside Cameron and he made a point to come over and say hello. He even remembered our names. His personality is just off the charts.

 

[Koubek for Prez]

I think this is a great hire. I'm glad Duke is building a solid nucleus of young coaches. We won't have K forever, and it's great we are looking to the long term future of the program.

 

[BluePhil]

My wife will be delighted. Nolan was her favorite player and was giddy when she saw him at the Louisville game.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Love, love, love this hire!

My dad will be equally as thrilled. Definitely his favorite player from our 2010 title team. He always gushed about "Smitho" on the phone with me after games.

 

[bleediteveryday30]

Great hire and an even better hire for Nolan! He is one of my all time favorite Dukies. And was probably my favorite on the 2010 championship team, well, behind Jon.

 

[skysdad]

I like the way Coach K is bringing in some young guys. I do think it is a reason he's doing it. Good to have a couple of coaches on staff that aren't all that much older than players. OFC

 

[Dad2ze]

Yes yes he is, and has been that way every single time I've had the privilege of crossing paths with him. His mom was the exact same way in the couple times I encountered them both together. I'm thrilled he is joining our staff!!!

He actually talked to my son for a long time after snapping the photo. Always goes outta his way to say hey to kids if they're yelling his name. I think all the kids are like that. I remember Coach James pulled Quinn off the elevator his freshman year to take photos with us. As they walked away he told Quinn, remember it's always about the kids! That's stuck with me forever

 

[df64]

Nice hire. Should help with recruiting, especially the DC area. Also, makes sense to have another body as the Olympics approach and K has his knee surgery. Remember reading that Nate James had to ditch a previously scheduled recruiting obligation to go check out Grayson. Nate was the only guy around as the rest were at the Olympics. Imagine if Nate didn't reschedule-on his own- and we never got Grayson!

 

[Showenuff]

A team morale elevator. Awesome.

 

[TRU CANE]