Report: Duke Basketball Champ Interviews for Head Coaching Job

According to a Burner Ball report on Tuesday, Nolan Smith, a 2010 Duke basketball national champ and former multi-year Blue Devil assistant now entering his second season on the Louisville staff, might be looking to the NBA G League for his first head coach role.

The 35-year-old, who was born in Louisville but became a McDonald's All-American in 2007 after playing his prep ball in Maryland and Virginia, is one of two high-major college assistants interviewing to become the next head coach of the Capital City Go-Go in Washington, D.C., per the report. The other is LSU's Cody Toppert.

Following a two-year stint with the Portland Trail Blazers after hearing his name at No. 21 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft, Nolan Smith spent a few years overseas before suiting up for a month or so with the Delaware 87ers in what was then called the NBA D-League.

A year later, he joined now-retired Duke basketball legend Mike Krzyzewski's staff in Durham as a special assistant.

Then, in March 2018, he became the program's director of basketball operations and player development. He held that position until becoming a full-fledged Blue Devil assistant in April 2021.

Now, with Louisville coming off a dismal 4-28 campaign under first-year head coach Kenny Payne and having recently lost five-star 2023 signee Trentyn Flowers to the Adelaide 36ers of Australia's National Basketball League, some might say it'd be wise for Nolan Smith to try his hand at going out on his own, even if in the G League.

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