Toronto Raptors new head coach Nick Nurse is the ultimate grinder
Nick Nurse is a proven coach who has accomplished a great deal as both a head coach and assistant. Let’s take a look his resume to-date.
Those who claim Nick Nurse has no playing experience must not be aware of the midwest powerhouse known as Northern Iowa. It was there were Nurse started his playing career, appearing in 111 games and breaking the school record for three-point percentage (46.8%).
After a solid college career, Nurse took a role as a graduate assistant for the University. He coached as an assistant for just one year before taking a head position at Grand View University.
Of course in the small gap between seasons, Nurse managed to keep himself busy. During that time Nurse hopped across the pond after being hired by the Derby Storm as a player coach. Yes, that’s right a player coach in the 1990s. (The Derby Storm are no longer a franchise for what it is worth)
While Nurse’s first stint in Great Britain was short-lived, he would later return to the United Kingdom to make a more significant impact.
Nurse coached at Grand View for two more seasons, before taking a division one assistant gig at South Dakota. Yes, the University of South Dakota was the upgrade in this situation. (No offense, to USD which I am sure is a fine school, but is not exactly Duke).
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Nurse coached there for two seasons, before returning overseas as the head coach of the Birmingham Bullets. Birmingham was one of many stops, as Nurse bounced across Great Britain for a decade plus. (With two quick pit-stops as an assistant for the Oklahoma Storm).
In 2007 the NBA called (sort-of), when Nurse was offered to be the head coach of the Iowa Energy (now the Iowa Wolves). Nurse obliged and found immediate success, turning an expansion team to a division winner in just their second season.
In the 2010-2011 season, Nurse’s fourth season with the team, the Iowa Energy won the NBA D-League Championship in a three game battle over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. During that series, Houston Rockets General Manager Darryl Morey must have seen something that he liked, as Nurse became head coach of the Vipers next season.
Nurse coached at Rio Grande for two seasons, winning another D-League title in 2013. After the 2013 season, Nurse received an offer from the Toronto Raptors to join coach Dwane Casey’s staff.
2013 also happens to be the year that the team hired General Manager Masai Ujiri; its hard to imagine that this timeline is coincidental.
Nurse coached as an assistant under Casey for the next five seasons, including the most recent of which he was given control of the offense, transforming the Raptors offense into the modern era.
Next: Hiring Nick Nurse was a vote for continuity
Only time will tell if hiring Nurse was the right call. Perhaps the Raptors did need more of a shake-up, perhaps Nurse does not have the right demeanor. One thing is certain though, Nurse earned this job.