Skip to main content

Former Maryland point guard on path to become D-I head coach

Former Maryland point guard Duane Simpkins, who interviewed for the vacant Terps assistant coaching position last year, recently received a promotion and a pair of accolades this week.
  • Author:
  • Publish date:

Former Maryland point guard Duane Simpkins was named associate head coach at George Mason, the program announced Monday.

Simpkins was promoted to the position after spending the last five years as an assistant under Patriots coach Dave Paulsen. He previously held coaching jobs at Towson and UNC-Greensboro.

"I'm tremendously grateful to Coach Paulsen for his vote of confidence in my abilities as a teacher, coach and mentor here at George Mason," Simpkins said in a statement. "My family and I truly are thankful for his leadership, guidance and friendship, as well as the continued support from our administration. I'm looking forward to continuing to assist in the development of our culture and the holistic growth of our players. We have a terrific group."

Simpkins was one of a handful candidates to interview for Maryland’s vacant coaching position after Kevin Broadus left to become to head coach at Morgan State last year. Terps coach Mark Turgeon ultimately chose former Michigan assistant DeAndre Haynes, marking the first time since coming to College Park that he didn’t have an assistant coach from the Washington area on his staff.

The 46-year-old Simpkins has strong local ties. He was a former McDonald’s All-American point guard at DeMatha, a local high school powerhouse which Maryland has historically struggled to recruit. One of the last Stag players to suit up for the Terps, he totaled 1,152 points and 483 assists while helping return Maryland to relevance under Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams from 1992-96.

Simpkins was also named one of five-best assistants in the A-10 by his peers this week and earlier this year was named one of the country's top-50 most impactful mid-major assistants by Silverwaves Media. He’s credited with helping three Patriots win A-10 Most Improved Player over the last four years.

“Duane will absolutely be a head coach soon,” Paulsen told WatchStadium.com. “He has helped us make huge inroads in DMV recruiting, and is a great player development [mastermind] and strategist.”

Last week another former Maryland point guard, Sarunas Jasikevicius, was signed to a three-year deal to become the head coach at Barcelona after leading Zalgiris to five Lithuanian League championships from 2016-20. He was named Lithuanian coach of the year three times during that run.