An Olympic basketball roster is composed of 12 of the best players that a country has to offer.
For the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12 teams will compete for the chance to be crowned the best in the world. That’s only 144 players in the world who get the chance to compete at the Olympic level.
BGSU men’s basketball assistant coach Lourawls Nairn Jr. has the chance to be among these select few.
Nairn, or “Coach Tums” as he’s called, will get his opportunity when the Bahamian national team competes at the 2024 FIBA Men’s Basketball Pre-Olympic Qualifying tournament on August 14-20 this year.
“I think it’s special, just being able to represent my country, it’s an amazing feeling to honor your country in that way…to play with [NBA] guys like Buddy Hield, Deandre Ayton, and Eric Gordon, it’s just an amazing feeling.”
NBA-caliber players are one thing, but “Tums” is also unique in that he’s the only member of the Bahamian national squad who is primarily a coach instead of a player.
“It’s definitely different. You know I’ve been a point guard all my life so my game, even when I was a player was sort of a floor general…playing defense, getting guys the ball when they need it, that’s the difference. We need Deandre Ayton to be special; we don’t necessarily need me to be special.”
The dichotomy of playing professionally and coaching at the collegiate level presents “Tums” with a unique role in both situations. Head coach Todd Simon can clearly see the benefits of Nairn’s world-class experience.
“No question. Tums has such a wonderful presence about him, but the more [he’s] around those high-level players, not only can this knowledge rub off on them, but he can also learn from the things they do and impose that for our guys.”
At only 29 years old, Coach Tums isn’t as far removed from the team in age, and this plays a big role in the player-coach relationships he’s established.
Senior guard Trey Thomas appreciates the relatability that Nairn brings to the coaching staff.
“A lot of his stuff comes from experience, and so it’s really intense and genuine. It’s a different type of energy that he brings to the game…He’s one of the first people I really met that had that about him where every day it’s the same person that we’re seeing…he’s really young and energetic so he relates to us in a lot of ways, which helps a lot.”
Coach Nairn himself knows the values that he can impart on the Falcons.
“I’ll tell a story about Eric Gordon: there were days where I didn’t know he was at the gym because he’s so low maintenance…I thought it was super impressive [from] a guy in his 16th year in the NBA who’s made so much money…he came into work every day, handled his business in practice every day, [and] whatever the coach asked of him he did. I wanted to take that and tell our guys ‘If a guy of his stature can do that then so can you.’”
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