Austin Peay fires men's basketball coach Nate James after two seasons
Austin Peay has fired men's basketball coach Nate James after only two seasons in Clarksville.
Austin Peay athletics director Gerald Harrison announced Monday that the university decided to end James' tenure after a 9-22 record this season, including a last-place finish in the ASUN with a 3-15 mark. Austin Peay failed to make the conference tournament's 10-team field.
James finished 21-39 at Austin Peay.
"Last night we came to the difficult decision to change the leadership of our men's basketball program," Harrison said in in a school release. "I would like to thank Nate James for his efforts and dedication to Austin Peay. I wish him, Bobbi and their family nothing but the best moving forward."
The Govs struggled through an 11-game losing streak that began Jan. 12 and lasted through Feb. 16, and with only two games remaining in the regular season, three players were suspended for their role in a fight with North Florida Feb. 18.
James' first season resulted in a 12-17 record and 8-10 in the Govs' final season in the OVC. He was hired April of 2021 after serving more than a decade as an assistant at Duke under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. James took over the Govs' program after Matt Figger resigned a week earlier to become the coach at UT Rio Grande Valley.
Harrison was familiar with James during their time at Duke. Harrison served as an assistant AD for the Blue Devils from 2008-18.
James made $295,000 for the first two years of a five-year contract he signed in 2021. That was scheduled to be bumped to $300,000 in Year 3 and $310,000 in years four and five but Harrison pulled the plug.
Before James was hired, former Austin Peay players, led by Drake Reed, wanted the program to go a different route, stumping for the hiring of SIU-Edwardsville assistant Bubba Wells, a graduate of Austin Peay who left the university as the all-time scoring leader in 1997.
Harrison said a national search for a new coach will begin immediately.
"We are committed to returning this program to its championship status. It's time to go to work," Harrison said. "I look forward to introducing you to our next men's basketball coach in the near future."
This will be Harrison's sixth hire from a high revenue sport.
This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Austin Peay basketball: Nate James fired after seasons in Clarksville
