By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

While he’s preparing to play for the Bahamas men’s national team in the Olympic Qualifier in July, Lourawls ‘Tum Tum’ Nairn Jr is getting used to his new role as the associate head coach for the Bowling Green State Falcons men’s basketball team.

Nairn, who has been a part of the back-to-back 20-win seasons in the Mid-American Conference under coach Todd Simon, said he’s excited to be in the position that he is in right now.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for me to allow myself to grow as a coach,” Nairn said. “We have a great young team and and a great coaching staff, so I can use this as an opportunity to get better as a coach.”

Simon said Nairn has proven to be an exceptional leader and teacher to the young men in their Falcons’ basketball programme and that was one of the main reasons for his promotion.

“In addition to his impact on our player development and Xs and Os, he brings the best out of our players,” Simon said.

“As associated head coach, we look forward to him taking on additional responsibilities that will impact our programme’s success. His future is very bright as a leader in college basketball.”

Nairn joined Simon’s staff two seasons ago after they began at Southern Utah in 2022-23 and making the transition to Bowling Green ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Simon noted that in both of Nairn’s seasons on staff, their teams accomplished 20-win seasons. Nairn was also a key piece in Bowling Green’s turnaround this past season, aiding the Falcons to become one of 10 teams in the nation to go from 20 losses in 2022-23 to 20 wins in 2023-24.

The quick turnaround resulted in MAC Semifinals and CIT appearances for the Orange and Brown while mentoring Rashaun Agee to an All-MAC Second Team selection.

Nairn admitted that this is just the beginning of what is to come as he continues his journey as a collegiate coach after he enjoyed an impressive four-year sting as a point guard at Michigan State.

“I am very humbled and grateful for this promotion to Associate Head Coach,” Nairn said. “Being a part of this program has been an honor for me. I appreciate Coach Simon for his belief in me to continue to help our student-athletes achieve success in this new capacity. This is such a blessing and privilege that I won’t take for granted.”

Before he joined Simon in Cedar City, Nairn spent the 2021-22 season as the head coach at the well-renowned Sunrise Christian Academy. In his lone season at the helm of the program,

Nairn led the team to a 21-win season and an Elite Eight appearance in the National Prep Tournament. Additionally, he coached and mentored eight players who went on to play at the Division-I level during the campaign.

Before taking over at Sunrise Christian Academy, Nairn spent two seasons at his alma mater, Michigan State, as a graduate assistant under Tom Izzo, helping the Spartans to a Big Ten regular season title and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Nairn’s coaching career began with the Phoenix Suns as a player development coach in 2018-19. He admitted that while he didn’t get to display his skills in the NBA, he was able to take advantage of his coaching chores.

“It’s been an incredible ride so far and I only it will only get better,” he said. “I don’t where it will take me, but I’m looking forward to what God has in store for me.”

Nairn and the Falcons are already putting in the work., They begin their summer training program yesterday. Nairn said the coaching job in the college is not an way one because they are constantly working.

However, he said he’s appreciative that coach Simon is giving him the opportunity to take a break and travel with the men’s national team to Valencia, Spain in July for the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in August in Paris, France from July 27 to August 11.

“Coach Simon has already approved the time off because he knows how important it is for us to try and qualify for the Olympics,:” Nairn said., “I’m really looking forward to playing with the guys again.

“Coach (Chris) Demarco, manager and assistant coach Moses Johnson have been doing a fantastic job getting everything in place. I think we have a great team with guys like Buddy Hield, DeAndre Ayton and Eric Gordon as well as .

“I think they are working hard on putting together a very solid team and so I think our chances of qualifying for the Olympics are very good. We should do very well in the tournament. I’m really looking forward to playing with these guys again.”

When the final team is selected for the qualifier, scheduled for July 2-7, the Bahamas national team will play out of Group B against Poland and Finland. Group A will feature Lebanon, Angelo and Spain.

The top team out of the two groups combined will qualify for the Olympics.