Former Duke standout Nate James joined the Blue Devils’ coaching staff as an assistant coach on May 6, 2008.
James, a Washington, D.C. native, broke into the collegiate basketball coaching ranks after serving for one season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Duke. Since joining the Blue Devils he has a 30-7 career record.
James is among former Duke standouts Steve Wojciechowski (associate head coach), Chris Collins (associate head coach) and Chris Carrawell (graduate assistant/head team manager) who are former Blue Devil captains on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff.
“Nate was a great addition to our staff,” said Krzyzewski. “He was a valuable member of our program as a player and is an asset as an assistant coach. His maturity, toughness and dedication to Duke blends well with the rest of our staff. I look forward to watching Nate continue to develop and prosper in this role.”
In his first season as a Duke assistant coach, James worked with the inside players. He helped coach Kyle Singler to second team All-ACC honors as he became only the sixth sophomore in Duke history to reach 1,000 career points. Singler averaged 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game on his way to earning honorable mention All-America honors by the Associated Press.
James played in 135 games from 1997-2001 with 63 starts. He scored 1,116 points, had 500 rebounds and shot 47.3 percent from the floor. While known mostly for defense and rebounding, he also hit 11 career three-pointers. Duke won or shared the ACC regular-season championship in all five years that he was on the team, a feat achieved by no other player in league history.
James brought a warrior mentality to the court that set an example for his teammates and contributed to many victories. Sometimes that meant scoring, as in the 26 points he had against Texas to help Duke win the 2001 Preseason NIT or the career-high 27 that he scored at Clemson later that year on 10-of-14 shooting. James’ warrior spirit usually showed in the way he went after loose balls and rebounds, the way he defended, the way he attacked weight training workouts – all activities that led one publication to name him the ACC’s most underrated player in 2001. ACC coaches, meanwhile, named him to the league’s all-defensive team, while the media voted him third team All-ACC as a senior.
Three of James’ most noteworthy moments were against Maryland in 2001. In the final seconds at College Park, not far from his home, he hit a pair of free throws in the face of an antagonistic crowd to send the game into overtime. In the ACC semifinals, his penchant for finding offensive rebounds led to the winning tip-in just moments before the final buzzer. And in the second half of the NCAA semis in 2001, James stepped up to lock down Juan Dixon, who had torched the Blue Devils for 16 first half points. Dixon scored just three points in the second half as Duke rallied from a large deficit for the win.
One of his most significant contributions to the 2001 NCAA crown was the way he handled his move out of the starting lineup late in the year. James had started 29 straight games heading into the regular season finale against North Carolina. But Mike Krzyzewski wanted to rework his lineup after an injury to Carlos Boozer, so he decided he needed James to come off the bench. James accepted the move and played over 24 minutes per game in Duke’s nine postseason victories. James’ unselfishness prompted head coach Mike Krzyzewski to state that James may have been the biggest winner of all: “When he walked off the court in Minneapolis, he was not only a champion in basketball – Nate James was a champion in life.”
A 2001 Duke graduate, James scored over 1,000 career points as a member of the program from 1996-2001. He helped the Blue Devils to a 71-9 ACC regular season record and is the only player in ACC history with five straight regular season conference titles (he redshirted in 1998 after playing in six games).
James, a two-time team captain, played on a pair of Final Four teams, including Duke’s 2001 National Championship squad. As a senior, James averaged 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while helping the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record. He earned All-ACC and ACC All-Defensive team honors in his 2001 senior season.
With 117 career victories he is among the winningest players in school history, ranking tied for fourth with Danny Ferry. Duke posted a winning percentage of .867 (117-18) with James on the court, placing him sixth on the career list. Along with his five regular season ACC championships, he was also a member of three ACC Tournament Championship squads at Duke.
James made his mark on the Duke record books as a player. He is one of 59 players in school history to score over 1,000 career points and now ranks 48th on the all-time list with 1,116 points in his career. In 135 career games he averaged 8.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting .473 (387-of-818) from the field. He is one of 41 players in Duke history with 500 career rebounds and ranks 21st all-time at Duke with 147 career steals.
Following his career at Duke, James played professionally in the United States and overseas from 2002-2007. After being named the Carolinas Basketball League Most Valuable Player in 2003, James spent various parts of the next five seasons playing in Bosnia, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Poland and Russia. He was also with the Philadelphia 76ers during their training camp in 2004.
In the off-season, James has directed a summer basketball camp with former Blue Devil Chris Carrawell in Durham. The camp teaches the importance of fundamentals in the game of basketball and life.
James earned his degree in sociology with a minor in African American studies in 2001. He is married to Bobbi Baker-James and is currently residing in Durham. The couple has one son, Nathaniel Drake James III, born July 26, 2009.
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