Duke’s men’s basketball team has hired former star guard Nolan Smith as a special assistant, according to a tweet from the athletic department.
#CoachK has announced that @NdotSmitty has joined the staff as a special assistant. #GoDuke https://t.co/FU3DvAHRAD
— Duke Athletics (@DukeATHLETICS) February 22, 2016
Smith, 27, averaged 13.4 points per game over his four seasons with the Blue Devils and helped lead Duke to a national championship in 2010. He would go on to spend two seasons riding the bench for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers before playing in Turkey and Croatia. Most recently, Smith played for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League.
But now it appears that Smith is coming home. Duke has shown flashes of potential this year, but its guard play has proven to be streaky save for that of Grayson Allen and Smith could probably help in that department on top of whatever his regular day-to-day duties will be.
It’s strange to see such a hire happen so close to the end of the regular season but given Smith’s championship experience, the timing could be just right.
