It has been 33 years since Carl Nash last coached high school basketball at Durango High in Colorado, but during his time away from the prep level, he has gained some valuable experience that he has now brought to the student-athletes at Frederica Academy on St. Simons Island.
“I relate to them through basketball,” Nash said. “Teaching the game is what I do.”
Most of his career, 30 of 35 years, was spent recruiting young players at the college and professional levels. True, he hasn’t coached high schoolers in many years, but he has been on the floor at Clemson, Auburn, and Georgia Southern. He has coached in the NBA’s Development League and professionally overseas in China, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
This summer, Nash was tabbed to become the new boys’ head basketball coach and Athletic Director at Frederica Academy, a GISA private school rich in winning tradition in all of its sports programs.
“When the opportunity came up at Frederica Academy, I had already decided to give pro ball a break.”
He had visited the Golden Isles previously and was familiar with St. Simons Island. Now he will try to fill the shoes of Ed Wilson, who exited earlier this year for positions at Athens Academy.
“He was enormously successful here winning two state championships. I will do my best and hopefully it will be what they hired me for.”
Nash has developed his own coaching philosophy over the years. If he had to choose one aspect to focus on with young athletes, it would be mental toughness. However, he admits it is tough to teach, and some players may never learn to deal with difficult situations.
“I want players that can think the game, not just throw it up and go.”
The Colorado native got started coaching at the collegiate level in 1984 as an assistant at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He would eventually become head coach and athletic director for the school. He did take time to coach with the Saudi Arabian National Team in 1985. He returned to Spring Hill and was named the NAIA District 30 Coach-of-the-Year in 1992 and 1993 when Spring Hill made it to the District championship game, winning it in 1993, and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA National Tournament. He was also the 1992 Alabama Small College Coach of the Year. The following year he was chosen as the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference’s top coach. When he left to go to Clemson, he was Spring Hill’s all time winningest coach. He spent two years as an assistant at Auburn University and one year at Clemson. It was while he was with the Tigers that they played a top-ranked North Carolina team on national television. The Tar Heels were loaded with talent like Dante Calabria, Jeff McInnis, Eric Montross, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Donald Williams and Derrick Phelps.
“Of course their coaches were Dean Smith and my friend, the late Bill Guthridge,” Nash recalled. “We won the game 77-69. The fans stormed the court. Great sporting environment. The memories of that night will be with me forever.”
He then spent three seasons at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida, where he had a 59-29 record. He then moved to Statesboro in 1999 to become an associate head coach for the Georgia Southern Eagles where he was also the primary recruiter and scheduler.
He had been at Southern for 10 years and was at home in south Georgia when a friend called and asked if he would be interested in coaching overseas. He had wanted to get into the professional ranks and jumped at the chance to coach Al Rayyan in the Middle East nation of Qatar.
“We had a great team with players like Cory Bradford and A.J. Guyton,” Nash said. “That was a great experience for me as I got to work with them and learn the layout of professional basketball.”
Nash led the team to a silver medal in the Asian games and a spot in the world championships. He returned to the United States but soon took a position in the Chinese Basketball Association as head coach of the Flying Tigers.
“I learned a little Arabic and Chinese but not enough to carry on a conversation,” he admits. “I had an interpreter with both clubs and a driver that would try to teach some.”
After three years in China, he came back to the U.S. and coached the NBA Developmental League’s select team that played the Dominican Republic. He was later offered the chance to return to China as head coach of the Tianjin City Gold Lions in China’s CBA. After three years in China, Nash returned to the U.S. again to coach an NBA development league team for the Orlando Magic.
That’s when he got the chance to make a home at Frederica Academy. After years of traveling, he settled on the beaches of the Golden Isles. He will serve as the boys’ Head Basketball Coach as well as the school’s Athletic Director.
“I really want all of our programs to have success. I want to bring the sense that all of the teams are important, and most importantly, that all of the student-athletes are very important to our school.”
Nash is looking forward to the challenges of his new positions, although there will be some changes from his days of coaching professional basketball.
“Now the travel will be different. No chartered flights, no catered meals on the flight, no managers that carry my bags to the room, no one else that arranges all the travel details and to that I say, ‘no worries,’ I’m coaching basketball. I’m doing what I love.”
Coach’s Corner/Southeast Georgia/January 2017
Carl Nash
Frederica Academy
Athletic Director and Head Basketball Coach
By Rob Asbell
Photos by Michel Brinson
