Report: Memphis assistant, former Duke star Nolan Smith finalizing deal to be Tennessee State's next head coach

Nolan Smith has been working for nearly a decade in roles, most recently as an assistant, at some top programs in college basketball. He’s now set to earn his first chance at being a collegiate head coach per reports out of Nashville.

Per Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports, Smith is working towards a deal to become the next head coach at Tennessee State. That’s not official yet but is where things may be headed between him and the Tigers.

“Sources: Memphis’ Nolan Smith is finalizing a deal to be the next head coach at Tennessee State,” Rothstein tweeted this morning. “Nothing is officially done, but the two sides are working towards an agreement.”

Smith is coming off one season spent on staff at Memphis with Penny Hardaway. That was after two seasons as an assistant at Louisville under Kenny Payne following six seasons at his alma mater at Duke, with roles as an assistant, director of basketball operations and player development, and a special assistant, under Mike Krzyzewski and Jon Scheyer.

As a player in Durham, Smith averaged 13.4 points (44.8% FG, 36.8% 3PT on 1.2 makes), 2.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game with the Blue Devils from 2007-2011. He capped that college career off with his senior year when he posted 20.6 points (45.8% FG, 35% 3PT on 1.5 makes), 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in being First Team All-ACC, a Consensus First Team All-American, and a finalist for the Wooden Award. Over his time there, Duke went 125-23 (.845) under Coach K while winning four conference titles while reaching the Sweet 16 in his senior year and winning the national title, alongside his teammate in Scheyer, in his junior year in 2010. He would also go on to have a short, two-year career in the association with the Portland Trailblazers after being a first-round pick in 2011.

Tennessee State, in the OVC, has been coached by Brian Collins over the past seven seasons with the Tigers being 98-118 (.454), ranking third all-time for wins at the program, in his tenure with the HBCU. However, Collins resigned on June 30th to take a position as an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. TSU announced at the time that Erik Buggs would be taking over as interim in a role he has served in for the past two weeks.

Smith has trended towards being a coaching candidate in college for a few years now with his resumé. He now looks as though he’ll be getting an opportunity, albeit very late with it coming towards the end of the summer, with TSU.