Nick Nurse

Nicholas David Nurse (born July 24, 1967) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as head coach for the Toronto Raptors, whom he led to an NBA championship in 2019 and with whom he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2020.

Nurse played college basketball for the Northern Iowa Panthers. He played professional basketball with the Derby Rams in the British Basketball League.

Nicholas David Nurse was born on July 24, 1967, in Carroll, Iowa. Nurse attended Kuemper Catholic School System, where he excelled in basketball.

Nurse played at the University of Northern Iowa from 1985 to 1989, appearing in 111 games. He is the school's all-time three-point percentage leader at .468 (170 of 363). While playing at University of Northern Iowa, he was a teammate of current Division I college coach Greg McDermott. During their successful 1989–90 season, Nurse was the sole student assistant coach for Northern Iowa in his final year with the team. Nurse graduated from Northern Iowa in May 1990 with a B.A. in accounting.

Nurse became a player-coach for the Derby Rams in the British Basketball League during the 1990–91 season; following the 1990–91 season, Nurse never played professionally again, opting to pursue a full-time coaching career.

During their successful 1989–90 season, Nurse was the sole student assistant coach for Northern Iowa in his final year with the team.

In 1991, Nurse got his first full-time head coaching job at Grand View University when he was only 23 years old; at the time, he was the youngest college basketball head coach in the country. He coached at Grand View for two seasons.

Nurse was an assistant coaching role at the University of South Dakota for two seasons.